Blame Discord: Prompts Gallore!
by Harmonious Arkos Sloth
Summary: A collection of writing prompt responses from the folks at Discord, particularly the ones named Lord Farsight. Various Genres. Primarily Arkos and Team Sloth, but other pairings could show up at any time. Enjoy the collective insanity!
1. Chapter 1

**For the OTP!**

The Prompt: "The Arkos Shipping Society strikes decisively after one of those damn exchange students made a pass at Jaune. THE OTP SHALL PREVAIL !"

Now let's see what you do with that prompt :p —Lord Farsight

Response:

Nora banged her gavel sharply on the desk, bringing the meeting to order. She glanced around the room, which contained all of Team RWBY, herself, Coco Adel, Velvet Scarletina, and surprisingly Dove Bronzewing.

She cleared her throat dramatically, and said in her most authoritative voice: "I now call this meeting of the Arkos Shipping Society to order!"

Instantly, the room fell silent, and everyone took a seat in their meeting hall, a secluded corner of the library.

"Scribe! Will you read the minutes of the last meeting?" Nora asked, turning to address the person in the chair next to her.

Lie Ren, official transcribe of the Arkos Shipping Society, adjusted the fake bifocals that his partner insisted that he wear to look "official" and began to read:

"Yang: We should just lock them in a closet until they bang!"

"Velvet and Coco: Agreed!"

"Ruby: We should get them to bake stuff together! Baked good are love! Baked goods are life!"

"Weiss: You dolt! You just want an excuse to eat sweets! I don't think Pyrrha even knows how to bake!"

"Ruby: A-I regret nothing! And two-That's the reason it's perfect! Jaune can teach Pyrrha how to bake, and in the process, they'll get messy and through a series of shenanigans, their feelings will be revealed to each other!"

"Dove: Sounds like someone is mixing their shipping dreams with reality again! That doesn't happen in real life..."

"Ruby: YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! Stop ruining my dreams!"

"Dove: I know that if you are baking right, there is nowhere near the mess that you are imagining!"

"Blake: Let's go back to the closet idea! I say we lock them in the closet, and while they have their heartfelt confession, and animalistic sex, we sit outside and listen. Then we use that to write our own smutty stories about them.

"Stunned silence"

"Yang: Wait, you would do that?"

"Blake: Don't be ridiculous, Yang. I already do that! I usually hide in the tree outside their dorm or listen at the door when they are alone together. It's great material for my creative short stories."

"More stunned silence"

"Coco: That's a bit extreme, don't you think? I mean, we're just a group of people obsessing about the love life of our friends and hatching schemes to force them into situations where they would admit their obvious feelings for each other. We don't make up stories about them. What kind of sad, lonely pathetic people would we be if we wrote stories about our friends just to fill the romantic void in our lives?"

"Velvet: raises hand You would be me! Arkos is awesome, and until they actually get together, and give us real material to romantically fantasize about, I say our 'fan fiction' is a legitimate form of expressing our love of the S. !"

"Dove: Seconded!"

"Yang: Thirded! Partners stick together!"

"Nora: I now call this meeting to an end so that we may all go write our own steamy Arkos stories!"

"That concludes the minutes of the last meeting," Ren said with a final shuffle of papers, " Are we now moving on to new business?"

Nora nodded imperiously, before turning to stare seriously out at the gathered crowd. Weiss gave a small nod of acknowledgement to Nora's serious demeanor and the improvement to her 'stately manner'. Clearly the lessons were helping.

Nora glared out at the wall behind her audience, centering her emotions as Weiss taught her, before declaring "I called this emergency meeting of the Arkos Shipping Society because one of those girls from Team NDGO made a pass at Jaune in the cafeteria at lunch today!"

There was collective, stunned silence before Ruby asked in a nervous whisper, "What did Jaune do?"

Nora smiled, breathing sigh of relief as she relayed, "He blushed, stammered, turned to empty his tray, and tripped over his untied shoe lace!"

The listeners let out a collective sigh of relief, as Yang stated loudly "Whew! Dodged that Dust round!"

Blake was the first to recover from their shared relief, and was quick to point out the obvious. "While we are lucky that Jaune is adorkably awkward, and thus perfect for Pyrrha, we can't take the risk of some other girl deciding that Jaune is a great catch before one of our schemes to make the S. S. Arkos sail succeeds."

The others grew quiet at that, before Weiss finally spoke up, "An example must be made."

Nora nodded firmly, now was the time for decisive action. "I think that the best way forward is to make our problem...disappear."

Weiss and Velvet gave a startled gasp as they came to the obvious, chilling conclusion. "Where would we even hide the body?" Velvet whispered.

"Body? What body?" Nora questioned, "I was just talking about pairing their entire team off with other people so that they were removed from the dating pool."

Coco nodded agreement as her partner and Weiss sighed in relief.

"So, who's available to pair our meddlesome ladies up with?" Nora inquired.

"According to my research," Weiss said as she vigorously tapped away at her scroll, " Team SSSN is a famous all boys team from the same academy as NDGO. It shouldn't take much to get them together if we stick to our specialties."

The others gave a firm nod, as Nora began to delegate tasks. "Okay, Coco, you're on uniform detail."

The fashionable Huntress gave a firm nod, before leaving to complete her assigned task. Uniform Detail was code for sneaking into Team SSSN's dorm and replacing their terrible clothes with more appealing fashion that would catch NDGO's eye.

Nora continued, turning next to Velvet, "Picture Detail, go."

The bunny Faunus made a hasty exit, striding with purpose toward the dorms.

Picture Detail was Society code for taking sensual, appealing pictures of a target, in this case SSSN and NDGO. They would be vital when it came to Weiss' part of the plan: Hacking into the teams' Havenbook accounts to plant the photos and false status updates. Apparently, having an Atlesian Specialist as a sister afforded one a very tech oriented skill set.

Ruby was busy using her speed to type between hers and her sister's scrolls, gathering intel by visiting the official fanclub pages of SSSN and NDGO. Knowing their targets' favorite things was essential for creating false status updates.

She let out a sudden gasp before shuddering so quickly, everyone watching thought it was a subconscious use of her semblance.

"What's wrong, sis?" Yang asked in concern.

Ruby turned to the others, eyes wide as though her innocence had been lost, and could never be regained, "I was browsing the NDGO fanpage, when I came across a link one of the Admins posted once it was discovered that one of the girls of the team showed interest in Jaune. Apparently there is an entire server dedicated to shipping him with others so that NDGO stays firmly on the market."

The red reaper gave another shudder, as she whispered, "So far, I've seen quite the following for pairing him with some other Haven girls such as one named Cinder. Apparently, people like the idea of them using each other as stress relief."

"Who on Remnant is Cinder?" Dove asked.

The others merely shrugged as Ruby continued, "It gets worse. I've also seen him paired with Neon Katt from Atlas, Crocea Mors, and even _Cardin!"_

Everyone turned decidedly green at that, even Dove, though the resident member of team CRDL was the first to recover.

"That's not surprising," Dove stated, "I room with the guy and I can say with conviction that no one is as much of a tool as Cardin is without being repressed and in denial. Personally, I think he and Sky spend an awful lot of time together."

Yang smirked as she called cattily, "I bet he's the bottom because Sky wouldn't even feel it otherwise."

Blake looked up from the _citrus literature_ she was currently writing, "You think he's just insecure?"

Yang winked, "I think his +5 Mace of Overcompensation speaks for itself."

Blake blinked, gaping at her partner, "Did you just make a _Grimm and Wilds_ reference? I have never been more attracted to you."

"Ladies, focus!" Nora called before the BY of RWBY could become too far gone, "Yang! Whisper Campaign!"

The buxom blonde gave a sharp salute, blowing a kiss to her partner before leaving to start her own part of the plan, spreading gossip to give Team SSSN the social status they would need to attract the notice of Team NDGO, and vice versa.

Weiss glanced over to her partner ,"Wait, did you say there were people actively spreading the idea that Jaune and Crocea Mors should be a a thing? How would that even work?" the Heiress asked in morbid curiosity.

Ruby shrugged, while quickly exiting out of her blueprint document to add a vibration function to Crescent Rose, "Apparently, there's a powerful female spirit in there that is the reason Jaune can't access his semblance. They have a lot of angry sex because of it."

"Weird," mumbled Blake as she focused on her next scene, "People are weird."

The group then dissolved into a furiously working, comfortable silence, as they socially engineered the coupling of people they barely knew with the focused intensity of shippers protecting their OTP.

While all this was happening, there was commotion of another kind going on in the cafeteria.

Ren had arrived to enact plans of his own. Tired of losing sleep, and valuable meditation time to taking minutes for Nora's meetings without being able to contribute himself, Ren had had enough.

Jaune was balanced on the edge of his seat, so it was not very difficult for Ren to "accidentally" bump his chair while sitting down, sending the blonde right into the lap of his partner, who was sitting very close as they were watching something on her scroll.

Ren quirked an eyebrow. The accidental kiss, and stammering blushing conversation he was witnessing had not been entirely planned, but was not unwelcome.

Arkos was official by the time dinner was over. The new happy couple left the cafeteria, smiling and engaging in the most lewd of coupling activities _: Hand Holding._

END


	2. Chapter 2

**My Darling**

The Prompt: "Jaune lip sync 'sings' a cheesy love song to Pyrrha and they start dancing"—Solvdrage

Response:

Jaune checked the lighting again for the fifth time in as many minutes. Every candle needed to be lit, and the mood had to be absolutely perfect.

Pyrrha gave her partner a questioning glance as she sat down on the comfortable couch of their dorm. _'Did we lose electricity?_ ' the redhead wondered, ' _There are candles everywhere.'_

Jaune gave a nervous smile as he crossed the room to do something with his laptop. Pyrrha became intensely interested when the melody of their song began to softly play throughout the room.

Suddenly, Jaune was there, standing in front of her, and smiling as the warmth of his gaze surrounded her.

The champion blushed prettily.

Even though they had been partners for the last three years, and together-together as Nora called it, for two of them, the way Jaune looked at her still left her breathless.

Pyrrha didn't know how it was possible to express love, devotion, attraction, and so many other emotions with just a look, but Jaune managed it.

It made her feel truly beautiful.

When the music reached its crescendo and the vocals began to play, Pyrrha failed to stifle a giggle as Jaune began to "sing" the song to her, moving his lips and swaying lightly in place to the music.

Pyrrha wasn't watching his lips though, she was focused on his very expressive eyes.

When he got to the chorus, and his lips formed the phrase "My Darling" his gaze became soft and caring.

Pyrrha beamed at him.

During the final part of the chorus, that talked about hungering for her touch, his gaze became appropriately dark, and smoldering.

He gazed at her as though he wanted to sweep her into his arms and ravish her like a character in Blake's books.

It made her melt.

Finally, she could stand it no more, rising quickly from the couch on shaky legs to cross the short distance to her partner and wrap her arms around his neck.

Jaune chuckled as he automatically placed one hand on her hip, and rested the other on her back to keep them steady.

The blonde pouted at his partner, "I didn't even get to finish my incredibly romantic serenade."

Pyrrha smiled warmly at him, eyes bright as she placed a gentle finger on his lips, "Shhh, just hold me, Jaune?" the champion asked as she laid her head on her partner's shoulder.

Jaune smiled at her as he placed a gentle kiss on her hair, "As my lady wishes."

They stayed that way for a while, dancing to the music, and reveling in the romantic atmosphere.

And if at some point during the night, they satisfied their hunger for each other's touch, that was no one's business but their own.

END

AN: Do you like my work? Do you enjoy Arkos? Need something new to read that will keep you entertained for a while?

If any of your answers was 'Yes' you should check out smstanton's "4 Years of Beacon" At over 500k words, it's quite the epic tale. There is much glorious Arkos.  
Also, the crazy guys giving me prompts have stories here as well. They are worth reading. All of them. Go, read, enjoy, and don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Infinite in Distance**

Prompt: "For unknown reasons (Ozpin pulling his head out of his ass and acting) Cinder didn't get to enact her plan and was forced to flee. The Vytal festival went off without a hitch, and Pyrrha won in the finals against Penny. She wakes up in a villa, in downtown vale, very naked, and very snuggled to ... Since when has Jaune been that stacked?" Lord Farsight

Response:

Pyrrha awoke slowly, yawning in a very unladylike fashion. She was deliciously sore quite sticky, but also incredibly happy and content.

She snuggled closer to the pillow that was surrounding her, loving its softness and warmth. She smiled contentedly as the soft pillow brushed its calloused fingers down her shoulder...

Wait.

Pyrrha blinked again, much more rapidly, and came fully awake with a start. She turned toward the source of warmth, and upon seeing the smiling face of her partner, memories of the previous night came rushing back.

Confessing everything that she had talked about with Ozpin to her team.

Their stunned disbelief.

Jaune shouting at the headmaster in her defense and telling the headmaster in no uncertain terms that he was a failure and a coward for trying to put the fate of the world on a young woman that wasn't even a fully qualified Huntress.

It must have done something, because the next day, Atlasian military officers captured Roman Torchwick's partner Neopolitan, as well as a couple of transfer students named Mercury and Emerald with the assistance of Ruby's uncle Qrow.

Their team leader, Cinder, was nowhere to be found.

Pyrrha was so relieved not to be dealing with the immense pressures of the Fall Maiden issue, that she went into her final tournament bout against Penny with a clear mind and a light heart.

She dominated it.

Jaune had been so excited for her win. He was so happy for her, so proud of her accomplishment, that she did something that she never thought she would have the courage to do.

She made a move.

That move led to a heartfelt confession on both their parts.

Which led to a conversation.

Which led to kissing.

And now here she was, waking up in a very nice villa, apparently Jaune's family's vacation home, sore and satisfied.

The only problem was, when they went to bed last night, Jaune had the beginning development of visible abdominal muscles.

Yet somehow, he had managed to put on an extra five pounds of lean, hard muscle and had an old, white scar that stretched from his left pectoral down to his navel.

"Jaune? How exactly did you manage to put on this much muscle overnight?"

It was then that her partner opened his eyes to gaze at her.

The intensity of it stole her breath.

It wasn't just the look of a man in love, she had seen that last night.

This also contained joy, and lust, and was mixed with grief and loss so profound she almost wept right there.

The way he whispered her name, "Pyrrha," with such longing, as though she could disappear at any moment, made her heart ache for him.

What could have possibly happened to give her partner such world-weary eyes?

He reached out a trembling hand to gently brush her hair away from her eyes, " That is a very long story, Pyr."

She relaxed further into his side, deliberately wrapping his arm around herself like a blanket, "We have time," she said gently, "Tell me."

Jaune let out a shaky sigh, and a nervous laugh before visibly steeling his resolve, "I'm from the future."

Pyrrha merely quirked an eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate.

The blonde paused as he took in her nonchalant expression, "You...don't seem very surprised?" the knight noted.

Pyrrha smiled at him, "If you'll recall Jaune, I have spent the last few weeks with the knowledge that fairy tales are real and that I had been asked to literally merge my soul with one to safe guard a mythical power. Time travel isn't much of a stretch."

The blonde gave an honestly amused laugh, something he hadn't felt in a very long time, "Well when you put it like that, I suppose it wouldn't be..."

Pyrrha smiled at him encouragingly as she said, "Tell me about the future? How are you even here right now?"

Jaune gave a bitter laugh, before explaining, "In the future, you never explained what Ozpin was having you do. The guilt and the pressure got to you. Between that and Cinder's pet Emerald using her semblance on you, you accidentally ripped Penny apart."

The redhead gave a choked gasp, horrified at the mental image. It hadn't even happened, and she was affected by it as though she had actually done it!

Jaune gave a bitter chuckle, "Yeah, that's what your reaction was. Oddly enough, Penny was fine. Her aura had retreated into a microchip in her head. They just put the microchip in a new body, and that was that."

"It all went fine until Cinder launched a coordinated attack with the Fang, devastating Vale and nearly destroying Beacon. Ozpin tried to use the aura transfer machine to give you the rest of Amber's powers, and Cinder killed her before the transfer could be completed."

You ended up shoving me into a rocket locker, right after you kissed me, and then went off to fight Cinder and the dragon."

"Dragon?"

"Yeah. An actual dragon. Thanks to buying into Ozpin's idiocy, you ran off to fight it and a fully empowered Cinder by yourself.

Jaune gazed at her again, tears in his eyes as he choked out, "You died."

Pyrrha let out another startled gasp before tightening her hold on her partner. The pain in his eyes was overwhelming.

"Me, Ren, Nora, and Ruby traveled to Mistral in hopes of tracking down info on Cinder. Problem is, she wasn't the real enemy," Jaune let out another bitter chuckle, "The real person pulling the strings was a woman named Salem, a woman that could control Grimm."

"She ended up starting a war with the Kingdoms that we lost...badly, Jaune whispered, "Luckily, Atlas had been inventing more crazy stuff. In this case a time machine. I got sent two years into the past due to my unique qualifications."

Pyrrha gently cupped his cheek, watching in relief as most of the tension drained further out of her partner.

"Remember when you unlocked my aura? The words you said?"

Pyrrha nodded, "How could I forget?"

Jaune smiled at her, kissing the wrist of the hand cupping his face, "Well it turns out the phrase 'infinite in distance and unbound by death' is a bit more literal in our case," the blonde gave a rueful chuckle, "This is where it gets weird."

"Stranger than time travel?" the redhead wondered.

"Close," Jaune responded, "When Cinder killed you, your soul didn't disappear. It sought out that little spark of itself that you used to unlock my aura."

"What are you telling me, exactly Jaune?"

"Well, I've fought a bitter war for the last two years, with your soul in my head. However, once Atlas finished their time travel device, it was our combined auras that gave us enough juice to make the trip."

"Alright," Pyrrha acknowledged, "That doesn't explain why you look as you do though."

"That comes from the merging of my soul from across the time stream. That's a process that's been going on for a few weeks now," the blonde admitted, "It's just taken me that long to fully integrate into my 'new' body."

Pyrrha had an epiphany, "When you confronted the Headmaster!"

Jaune chuckled, "Right. I was still 'catching up' then. That tirade had been building for years at that point. He's lucky I didn't punch him."

"Anyway, another effect of the merger is my expanded musculature. My body had to grow and adapt to contain my increased aura levels."

Pyrrha nodded, "That makes about as much sense as everything else, I suppose. And the scar?"

Jaune blushed, "You told me I should keep it. You said it was a badge of honor that I had earned, and that it made me look more…manly."

Now it was Pyrrha's turn to blush as she lightly traced the scar with her fingertip, causing Jaune to shudder, "It does," she said softly, "It makes you look very handsome."

"There is just one more thing, though," Jaune said, "I promised myself I would do one more thing when I saw you again."

He kissed her.

Pyrrha immediately felt a gentle warmth, like a soft blanket, settle over her. She felt a curious tingle start from where her lips were connected to Jaune's, and spread all the way down to her toes. She let out a gasp of surprise when they separated.

When she gazed at her partner next, there was a weight, a weariness and experience that she had lacked a moment ago, "Hello again!" she called brightly.

"Hey, Pyr," Jaune whispered, "Ready to get to work?"

The Mistral champion gave him a smirk that was absolutely predatory, "Oh yes. That power stealing bitch and her Grimm spawning master are dead."

She punctuated this statement with a snap of her fingers, which sparked into a flame that danced across her open palm.

Jaune smiled lovingly at her, "Fuck Destiny," he whispered.

"Fuck Destiny," the redhead echoed.

END


	4. Chapter 4

**Cheat Day**

Prompt: "Modern AU: Pyrrha is a well-known athlete. Jaune sneaks her junk food on her cheat day."—Solvdrage

Response:

"Mm~! Yes~!"

"Slow down! No need to try swallowing all at once! You'll choke!"

"Don't care, Jaune! Give it to me! I need it!"

"As my lady wishes..."

"YES~!"

The blonde smiled down at his girlfriend as she rested her head in his lap, her expression the blissful stupor only a food coma could provide.

He used his free hand, that wasn't currently combing through her long, red hair to wipe away a smudge of chocolate by her lips.

He stuck the finger in his mouth, tasting the whipped chocolate filling with the discerning taste buds of a professional baker. "I'll try using the motorized whisk next time, more air should make the filling for the next batch of baklava much lighter."

The redhead currently seated on his lap blinked sleepily up at him, beginning to come down from her sugar high, "Any thoughts?" he asked gently.

"Will there be more chocolate?" the redhead asked, as seriously as her drooping eyes would allow. Between the divine pastries, and the wonderful scalp massage, she was quickly falling asleep.

"Sure, Pyr. I've been experimenting with a recipe to combine dark and white chocolate in a croissant for a while. I just need the filling to be lighter..."

Jaune couldn't hold back his laughter at the adorable expression his girlfriend made when he mentioned a new recipe, there was even a bit of drool at the corners of her mouth. She looked like an adorable kitten discovering tuna for the first time. Or a completely unrepentant chocoholic.

Her expression took on a new level of intensity as she moved to sit up, fatigue seemingly forgotten.

"That. I want it. All of those things you just said."

The blonde chuckled as his girlfriend moved to seat herself in his lap, powerful legs wrapping around his back.

At the predatory gleam in her eyes, he immediately took on an expression of mock hurt and pouted, "I swear, it's like you're only interested in me for my ability to satisfy your dark desires for sweets. I feel so used..."

The predatory gleam in her eyes was now accompanied by a smirk, as she began to move against him, kissing him as she began to feel the stirrings of a reaction. "Well, your baking isn't the only thing I'm interested in", she said in a sultry tone, "You're very good with your hands, too..."

Jaune smiled at her, taking that as his cue for his hands to begin roaming along her body.

They had just begun to get a rhythm going when...

"PYRRHA~! I hear moaning in there! You two better be working on giving me a niece or nephew to spoil!"

The now wide-eyed couple had just a few moments to straighten their clothes, and separate from their compromising position, before a short, muscular ginger haired girl came skipping into the locker room. She eyed their still clasped hands, letting out a mock gasp and pointing dramatically, "Degeneracy!"

The couple merely rolled their eyes at their friend as she giggled, before becoming serious again.

"Sorry to Jaune-block you, Pyrrha, but Coach Goodwitch sent me to get you. She wants everyone to run the hurdles one more time before we are done for the day. And it was either me coming to get you, or Yang..."

They each collectively shuddered as a dark-haired male with a pink streak stuck his head in the door. "Jaune, we need to be getting back soon. The inventory truck should be arriving in a couple of hours. Fall is almost upon us."

"Ugh, don't remind me, Ren!" Jaune let out a theatrical sigh, "The perils of running a very successful bakery cafe."

Ren clasped his hands as if in prayer, "Oum preserve us from the rabid Ugg boot wearing, pumpkin spice devouring hoards."

"Amen." Jaune replied solemnly.

The girls merely giggled, seated comfortably on the bench.

"Have fun burning off your Cheat Day calories, ladies! We'll see you at the shop later!" Jaune called with a wave, as he began to head for the exit.

"I can think of a much more _fun_ way to burn off all these sweets!" Nora called back cattily.

Jaune and Ren shared an eye roll, as the women in their lives eyed their respective men up and down.

The two women nodded decisively, before sharing a fist bump.

"Not in _our_ shop you're not!" the blonde returned, waving goodbye to the woman he loved, "Last time flour got absolutely _everywhere_!"

"I regret nothing." was Ren's deadpan reply.

END


	5. Chapter 5

**Dream Come True**

Prompt: "Salem just got defeated, and Jaune goes through her jail. There, he finds someone he never thought he'd see again while he still drew breath."—Lord Farsight

Response:

Jaune wandered slowly through the cavernous depths of Salem's dungeon, looking for survivors.

So far, he had found little more than twisted remains. He wasn't sure what kind of sick "experiments" Salem had been engaging in, but some of these remains were probably going to make him lose more sleep than the recent battle ever would.

All that ended when he heard what sounded like faint crying from one of the cells further down. Though he was concerned, he still kept hos blade drawn and approached cautiously. He wouldn't put it past Salem to use one of these poor souls as some sort of trap.

All that caution was thrown out the window when he arrived at the cell, and saw what was inside.

It was something impossible.

She was dead! Ruby watched her die! Cinder burned her to ashes!

If he wasn't so sure that Emerald was dead, killed by Adam Taurus of all people in an act of betrayal that surprised no one, Jaune would swear she was messing with him right now.

Still, despite the impossibility of what he was seeing, Jaune couldn't stop himself from

whispering "Pyrrha?"

Instantly, the crying ceased, and the head of red hair instantly looked up to make eye contact with him. The green eyes that were red rimmed from crying, but that didn't make the intense glare she shot his way any less terrifying.

"Still trying to taunt me, you wicked green-haired little cunt?!" Pyrrha bit out, voice raspy from obvious disuse, "Going to make me watch the man I love die again?"

Jaune had to visibly swallow his rage. _'Adam didn't kill her slowly enough'_ the blond thought darkly as he sheathed his sword and laid it down on the ground next to him.

He raised his hands slowly, to show that they were empty. His tone became even more soft and gentle, as he tried his best to ease his partner's fears. "Pyrrha, it's really me. I'm really here."

He didn't think it was possible, but her glare became even more scathing, "This again? At least try to be original!"

Jaune thought furiously, trying to think of some way to prove himself.

"During the Fall of Beacon, you kissed me, before you shoved me into a rocket locker. Then you fought Cinder."

The redhead's eyes widened. There was no way Emerald could possibly have that information! Still, it was so very difficult to hope...

"Jaune?" the Mistral champion let out in a choked whisper, "Are you real?"

The blonde dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face, as he could not contain his own sob, "Are you?"

Slowly, Pyrrha reached a trembling hand through the bars of her demagnetized prison cell, and took hold of her partner's outstretched hand. They gasped in unison when their hands clasped together. Real flesh and blood hands.

Now their tears flowed in earnest, though for entirely different reasons this time.

"I can't believe you're real," Pyrrha choked out through her sobs.

"I can't believe you're alive." Jaune returned.

The knight stood up, retrieving his weapon, and unsheathing it. "Get away from the door, Pyrrha. I'm getting you out of here."

The redhead instantly obeyed, backing up against the wall and hunching down to protect her head. Jaune took a deep breath, and focused. Crocea Mors responded to his use of Aura, it's edge gaining a bright glow.

Jaune used the sword to cut the door completely away at the hinges. The cut metal glowed a bright orange from the heat. The blonde reached into a small pouch at his waist, retrieving a vial of powdered Ice Dust, which he applied to the hinges with his gloved hands.

The metal cooled instantly.

Once he was satisfied, Jaune put the vial back into his pouch, sheathed his sword, and turned to look at his partner.

She was gazing at him with such a look of longing and happiness he was pretty sure it could drive of a wave of Grimm.

Jaune crouched down next to her, "Hi." he said gently.

"Hello again," she whispered through her happy tears, her tone a chimeric mix of hope, relief, joy, love, and several other things Jaune couldn't place.

"Do you think you can walk?" Jaune asked tenderly, as he brushed a few locks of dirty, matted hair away from her eyes.

Pyrrha tried to stand, but almost immediately began to fall over, her weakened legs giving out. Without hesitation, Jaune immediately swept her up into his arms in a traditional bridal carry like a knight from a classical fairy tale.

Jaune smiled down at his partner. Despite the dirt, grime, and unwashed scent clinging to her, to him, she had never looked more beautiful.

She was here.

Whole, and alive.

The redhead rested her head in the crook of her partner's neck as he gently turned to make his way out of the dungeon.

"What's the last thing you remember, Pyrrha?" the leader of JNPR asked, "Ruby saw Cinder turn you into ashes."

The Mistral native grew pensive as she struggled to recall details. "I'm not sure. I think what you saw was whatever teleportation magic was used to bring me here. I remember waking up in my cell, with that green haired bitch, and a woman named Salem staring at me."

The redhead shuddered in his arms, "She said she was going to use my despair as a means of creating more of her children to crush the Kingdoms. That's when it started, the visions..."

"You don't have to go on, Pyr. It's okay."

She gave a weak shake of her head, "No, it's fine, Jaune." the young woman continued, "She was performing strange experiments on many of the people here, using their fear and despair to create more Grimm. It was horrendous."

Jaune could see her eyes beginning to close, as she fought the urge to sleep, "Shh, it's okay, Pyr. Sleep. You're safe now."

She gave a weak nod before snuggling further into his embrace and doing just that.

Jaune gave her another soft smile, as he tightened his grip and picked up his pace. He glanced down at her, noting the lack of muscle tone and just how light she felt in his arms, too light. It was obvious the lack of proper food and exercise had taken their toll on his partner.

 _'It's fine_.' Jaune thought to himself, _'Muscles can be rebuilt, strength can be regained_.'

Pyrrha may be weak right now, but that just meant it was his turn to be strong enough to support them both.

His resolve became diamond as he made his way out into the dawn light of a brand-new day.

It's what partners did for each other after all.

And Jaune Arc would do anything for his partner.

The woman he loved.

END


	6. Chapter 6

**Waking the Dragon**

Prompt: "Pyrrha is an adventurer on a quest to free Jaune, the son of a small noble house, from necromancers who want to use his blood to unleash an undead dragon that his ancestors sealed off." –Lord Farsight

Response:

Jaune sighed again as he struggled with the ropes. Really this was honestly so embarassing! He had been abducted from his home and taken by honest-to-Oum necromancers!

They had taken him to a remote ruin a few days ride from his family's estate, and promptly chained him to a menacing dragon statue.

Jaune recognized the statue of course, having studied the family history. It was Coeur Algoth, the undead dragon. According to legend, the dragon fed on positive emotions, leaving only a void of negativity. Joy, hope, and love were its sustenance.

'And these zombie worshiping idiots want to wake him up?' Jaune thought with a grimace, trying to weaken his bindings by rubbing them against the rough stone of his cell, 'Does human stupidity know no bounds?'

Suddenly, his cell door opened, admitting one of his captors, dressed in a stereotypical hooded black robe. Jaune suppressed an eye roll as he was forced to stand and was shoved forward to march down the hallway and into a large chamber.

The other mages were already there, drawing strange, incomprehensible symbols in the center of the room using the blood of several butchered sheep.

Jaune was summarily stripped, and tied spread-eagle to the chamber floor. He heaved another sigh as the necromancers began to chant ominously in a guttoral language.

'This is really beginning to feel like one of those cliched stories I read in school,' Jaune thought, 'It would be really nice if some heroic warrior would show up right now to help me out!'

The blonde let out a bitter chuckle that cut short as the ominous chanting stopped.

As if summoned by his very thoughts, a warrior had come.

She stood resplendent in bronze colored armor, a corset, grieves, and gauntlets that appeared designed for maneuverability. The woman's jeweled circlet glittered in the torchlight, bringing attention to her bright red hair. Her piercing green eyes were narrowed in anger as she studied the room. The furious expression did not take away from her natural beauty.

She was truly breathtaking.

She rushed forward, in a sudden burst of speed, closing with one of the necromancers that was still trying to chant whatever ritual they were using. A quick flash of her blade, and the man fell to the ground in a headless heap. Another cultist lunged at her, arms wreathed in blue flames.

The woman blocked them with the shield she pulled from her back as she executed a leg sweep that made the mage fall. A quick stab through the heart and he was no more.

The next two were a bit smarter than their comrades, staying at range, and doing their best to douse her in flames. They were completely unprepared when the old chains that were bolted to the wall behind them suddenly sprang to life, wrapping around their necks and twisting.

They fell to the ground, faces set in a grimace of shock and pain, and heads twisted completely around.

The redhead calmly stepped out from behind the pillar she had been using as cover. hand glowing a bright black that quickly faded. She marched purposefully toward the last robed figure, a man trembling as he held a dagger at the throat of the man she had come here to rescue.

"S-stay back, wench!" the man warned, "I'll kill the soft little princeling! I swear!"

The woman immediately stopped, ignoring the robed figure entirely to stare the blonde captive in the eye.

"Hello again! Kept you waiting, huh?"

Jaune smiles despite the dagger poised at his throat, "Oh it hasn't been too bad. It was nice to get out of the house for a bit and stretch my legs. I could've done without the forced abduction, but the countryside we passed through on the way here was very beautiful."

With a twitch of her finger, the dagger the cultist is holding flies out of his hands. His eyes barely have a chance to widen before the dagger is buried to the hilt into his left eye socket.

Jaune smiles at the redheaded warrior as she breaks his bonds with another glow of her hands. "You're usually home earlier than this. Did you get delayed giving lessons to the local militia again?"

The redhead blushed, looking away from Jaune for a moment before answering, "I actually got delayed by a visit to a healer temple."

The blonde is caught of guard by the warrior's hesitance, she hadn't been nervous like this around him in years! "Is everything okay, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha's blush increased as she met Jaune's gaze. "Remember when we snuck away during your boring family reunion, and you gave me a tour of your uncle's large library?"

Now it was Jaune's turn to blush, it would certainly be hard to forget an evening like that!

Pyrrha took a deep breath, deciding to just come out and say it, "Jaune I am pregnant. We're going to have a baby!"

The blonde gaped at her for a moment in stunned disbelief, before laughing joyously, sweeping the woman up and twirling her around.

Pyrrha giggled excitedly, wiping a few tears from her eyes. She had been rather nervous on the journey here, but now she had no idea why she thought she should be. Jaune was happy! They were going to have a child!

The tender moment was thoroughly ruined when the drawn symbols began to glow brightly. The couple looked around sharply, and Jaune let out a groan as he spied the last necromancer corpse.

The man had fallen face-first onto one of the symbols drawn into the circle. Apparently, the dagger still had enough of his blood to count as a "bloodline sacrifice".

"Oh, COME ON!" the blonde screamed in frustration, before sighing, and taking Pyrrha's hand, leading her to the same pillar she had used for cover a few moments ago.

"What's wrong, Jaune?" Pyrrha queried, "What are these smbols even for?"

Jaune sighed, glaring at the glowing symbols even as the air started to turn cold, "These morons wanted to use me as a sacrifice to summon Coeur Algoth to this plane of existence so they could play fetch with him or something. I honestly stopped listening after the third time they mentioned how their Dark Lord would cleanse the land."

"Isn't that the dragon your family sealed away?" Pyrrha asked as she crouched behind the pillar.

"Yep. Be back in a second. Let me just go deal with this real quick, and we can be on our way."

Pyrrha gave him a smile, and a kiss on the cheek for luck, and with that Jaune strode calmly to the cluster of glowing symbols.

He took a slow, calming breath as all the blood, and shadows in the room seemed to bend, and almost bubble as they began to coalesce into a shape resembling a dragon, with a gaping maw full of sharp fangs.

Suddenly, the corpses of the mages disintegrated in a flash of heat and the shadow of the dragon becomes much more corporeal.

Standing in the circle on all fours, glowing red eyes glaring down at Jaune, is a dragon straight out of nightmares.

Its black scales were cracked, and broken, exposing the bone and sinew beneath. It glowed from within, giving off a dark light as if made from shadows. Its mouth opened wide, revealing rows of sharp, jagged fangs.

It glared hatefully at Jaune. Already, the blonde could feel the beast trying to feed on his happiness.

Jaune smirked. He was going to be a father. The woman he loved more than life itself was starting a family with him. She loved him. He loved her. And soon, they would have a new life in the world to care for and love.

There was no way this monster was going to take that from him.

With a deep breath, and a brilliant flash of light, Jaune Arc changed.

Where before had been standing a tall, lean blonde haired young man, now stood a true dragon twice the size of the malformed thing across from it.

Jaune's scales were a golden yellow the same color of his hair, and his bright blue eyes glowed with internal flame.

Speaking of flame, Jaune took a mighty breath, and focusing every positive feeling and thought he possessed to bolster his attack, launched a bright beam of light at the twisted monstrosity before him.

It gave a final shriek of pain, before it disintegrated into ash, banished from this realm.

There was another brilliant flash of light, and Pyrrha arrived just in time to stop the once again human Jaune from falling over in exhaustion. She smiled at him as Jaune tried to catch his breath.

"I hate doing that," the blonde muttered, as Pyrrha guided him outside to the horse she had waiting, "It always makes me so exhausted."

After Pyrrha had helped Jaune get settled into the saddle behind her, and she was certain he wouldn't fall off, she tossed a playful smirk to him over her shoulder as she guided their horse back toward home.

"That's a shame," the redhead stated, "It's been several days since we've seen each other. I was hoping we'd be able to...catch up."

Jaune smiled back at his wife, and mother of his child, tightening his hold around her waist, and pressing himself firmly up against her.

"I'm never that tired," the blonde growled playfully into her ear, before laying a firm passionate kiss on her neck.

Pyrrha giggled joyfully.

END


	7. Chapter 7

**Hot For Teacher**

The Prompt: "Pyrrha has a fetish for authority" Silent S

Response:

Jaune was incredibly nervous. Granted, he was just teaching a single cooking class for preparing simple meals in the field, but still. Speaking to his team, and giving orders was one thing. They were his friends, and they were familiar with each other. Doing it in front of a much wider group of people, even if some of them were his friends, was going to be a bit more of a challenge.

The Arc sighed as he organized his lesson plan. This mostly consisted of a slide show detailing what various herbs and spices looked like in the wild. And a few things on how to properly prepare meat by fire, how to tell if it's completely cooked, etc.

The only real problem that he was running into at the moment was the fact that Ozpin would not let him teach any knife work to the class; something about insurance and liability…

' _Sure, he can hurtle student off a cliff face, and into a forest of deadly Grimm, but I can't teach students how to julienne a carrot?'_ Jaune wondered in amazement, ' _Adults are weird.'_

However, the Arc scion was bound and determined to overcome this obstacle by having the class cook a simple recipe that was absolutely vital to work out in the field.

The blonde gave a sudden start when the sound of student chatter broke him from his introspection. He looked up to see his class filing in to take their seats. There was his team of course, taking their usual seats in Port's class toward the middle of the center tier of seats.

Team RWBY was next, taking seats next to his own team, and sending him winks and thumbs up. Blake even looked up from her book to wave. He felt a little honored at that.

The last team to enter was a surprise both because they were the last ones to enter, and of who they were.

"Velvet?! What are you and your team doing here? Second years have a free period this period!"

Coco was kind enough to answer for her. "Hey, Blondie! Yeah, we had a free period, and we were kinda bored, so we thought we would come hang out, and see if you could teach a class better than Port."

"Okay, that doesn't explain why you guys are the last ones here, when you don't even have this class…"

Yang took a moment to look up from the fighting game she was playing on her scroll to offer an explanation, "Yeah, CRDL found out you were teaching this class for Port, so they told everyone else, who are now chillin' in their dorms or something."

Jaune resisted the urge to palm his face, but only barely, "That's okay. When I submit the attendance, all of them will just be marked absent. Joke's on them…"

Yang just shrugged as she went back to her game. Jaune tried not to sigh as he submitted the official attendance for this class period. He hadn't even started teaching yet and already he was off to a rough start.

"Okay everyone, listen up! Today you will be learning to identify various herbs and spices that you can use out in the field for cooking. I've also thrown in a few that are poisonous so you know not to eat them. The first part of class will be a slide-show detailing what the herbs and spices look like, along with what they are good for. The second half of class is a surprise."

His audience seemed at least mildly curious at that, so after an encouraging smile from his partner, Jaune took a deep breath and dimmed the lights to begin his slide-show…

It went about as well as he expected. Ren and Pyrrha seemed rather interested, and seemed to be taking noted attentively, despite the fact they had heard him give this lecture for the last week. He was deeply appreciative and resolved to do something nice for them later.

Blake was also taking notes dutifully, unbothered by the darkness of the room. Being a Faunus had its perks. Yang and Nora were currently cuddled up against each other, sleeping. Ruby was drawing something, and Weiss was…filing her nails.

Team CFVY was all surprisingly attentive considering that they didn't even have to be here. Yatsuhashi was calmly explaining the descriptions in the slides to Fox, while Velvet and Coco took detailed notes. Coco then ran them through a program on her scroll that would translate them to Brail for her partner to be able to read later. That was impressive teamwork.

' _I wonder if I can give them a special commendation in their file for being impressive or something…'_ the Arc scion mused.

Once the slide-show was over, Jaune turned the lights back on, and as if by magic, each of the gathered teens immediately tried their best to look as attentive as possible, as though Jaune could not see them when the lights were down. Nora and Yang even woke up.

Except for Weiss.

She was still doing her nails.

Jaune began to grind his teeth. Honestly, if it wasn't for the attentiveness of his team and CFVY, the blonde was certain he would snap.

"Okay guys, I hope everyone paid attention to the slides because Professor Port will be giving a quiz next class. Now on to the fun part. Practical demonstration! I'm sure you've all noticed the oven behind me, as well as the large box on it. This is the surprise."

Jaune paused for a moment to try building the suspense. Everyone seemed attentive, except for Weiss, though Jaune was trying his best to ignore that.

"Now for some reason the school won't let me teach you knife work, despite the fact we are all attending a combat school. Go figure. So, instead, I thought we would make a fun easy recipe that is always handy to have in the field for morale."

The blonde lifted the box, doing his best to pause for the drama of the thing, before declaring "Tada! Today, class, we will be learning how to bake chocolate chip cookies!"

Yatsuhashi raised his hand, "Excuse me, Professor Arc, but why cookies?"

In answer, Jaune gestured to Ruby, who was in fact, at that moment stuffing several cookies into her mouth, while sipping from a discreet flask of what Jaune knew to be milk based on the mustache that now decorated her lips.

When she noticed all the attention on her, the red reaper gave a nervous smile and a large gulp, effectively ending the existence of another innocent cookie community. The girl gave a nervous chuckle as she hurriedly slipped her flask back into her bag.

Everyone just kept staring.

"What?!" the reaper asked defensively, "It was a birthday present form my Uncle Qrow!"

"Anyway," Jaune went on, "While you can clearly see that knowing how to make cookies is an essential skill if you are on a team with Ruby, cookies are also great to have out in the field. Chocolate releases oxytocin into the brain, which causes happiness and joy. This is good for helping ward off Grimm."

Th others predictably looked interested at that. Even Weiss looked up from her nails.

"So today, we won't just be learning how to make any cookies! Today, I will teach you how to make my grandmother's special Arc family recipe, Triple Chocolate Cookies!"

The girls all looked suitably impressed. Nora and Pyrrha were of course paying attention. He even saw his partner drooling a little to accompany the rather glazed look in her eyes. Jaune wasn't surprised though. That's just what she did when chocolate was involved.

Ren, Blake, and Yang were paying attention, of course. Ruby seemed intensely focused, in a way that she rarely got about anything other than weapons.

Even the boys of Team CFVY seemed eager to learn, no doubt recognizing the benefits of adding this vital life skill.

Of course, the only one that wasn't impressed, or even trying to pay attention was Weiss, who had given up even the polite pretense of eye contact to stand in a huff and haughtily declare, "This is foolish Arc! Cooking has nothing to do with fighting Grimm! And no special chocolate cookie is going to repel Grimm either!"

Everyone stared at her in shock. Weiss never lost her cool like that, at least not with an authority figure. Ruby was glaring death, undoubtedly for speaking heresy about cookies.

Jaune was livid. Weiss had been rude, uncooperative, and condescending, and generally showed him no respect at all. Granted, that was really no different from any of their other interactions, but this was different. He had worked hard all week putting together a lesson plan to teach something he was passionate about that was actually important to survival in the field. But that wasn't the hammer that broke the Ursa's back.

Weiss had insulted Grammy Arc.

This could not be borne.

Jaune's face was a rictus of barely contained fury as he coldly declared in a menacing tone, "I am your teacher Ms. Schnee. While I am not paid to be here, my performance is dependent on your own. That makes this the most complicated employer-employee relationship that doesn't involve a dominatrix or paying .99 Lien a minute to have a stranger tell you they love you. I worked on this lesson plan for over a week. Now you will park your combat skirted rear in that chair, shut up, and by Oum you will learn something even if I need to have Pyrrha beat you over the head with my lesson plan to accomplish it! Do you understand me?"

The young heiress gave a shaky nod before sitting down in her seat under the watchful glares of Pyrrha and Ruby, who both looked as if they dearly wanted to carry out Jaune's threat. ' _Considering how many cookies Ruby eats, perhaps learning to use the Food Room is a good idea,'_ Weiss mused.

With that settled, Jaune finally got everyone started.

The class was soon awash in the sounds of pouring, measuring, stirring, and in Nora's case, tasting. Ren had given up keeping her from the bowl, and just gave her an extra one with chocolate chips as a distraction.

Ruby was busy measuring and pouring ingredients with a concentration and precision that left Jaune in awe. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn she was making Dust rounds. Or cooking industrial size batches of very pure drugs.

Eventually, the cookies were ready to go in the oven, each team getting a tray of their own. Ruby and Pyrrha waited by the oven like over eager puppies, trying to will the cookies to bake faster.

Soon, the cookies were being enjoyed by all, and everyone cleaned up their stations and got ready to leave. Jaune wasn't surprised when Pyrrha offered to stay back to help him take everything to the kitchen to wash. He _was_ surprised when he heard the distinct sound of the door locking, accompanied by the distinct flash of his partner's semblance.

He became immediately nervous when he noticed the gleam in his partner's eye along with the sway of her hips as she walked toward him. He gulped as she sent him a sultry smile, tracing her finger along his chest. She applied the slightest pressure, and he immediately collapsed down into his chair.

"Uh, what's up, Pyr?"

The redhead shot him another sultry smile as she retrieved a bowl apparently still filled with some melted chocolate from earlier. She began to unbutton his shirt, still smiling.

"Would you like to know something I learned today, other than how to identify mint in the wild, _Professor?"_

' _How can Pyrrha addressing me with my title sound so wrong and so right at the same time?'_ Jaune wondered.

Jaune let out a squeak that Pyrrha took as a 'yes'.

"Besides the fact that I really like chocolate, I learned that I have a thing for blonde haired, blue eyed authority figures."

Jaune did his best to clear his throat and sound authoritative, "R-really?"

Pyrrha gave a sultry purr as she finally undid the last of his shirt buttons. Jaune nearly swallowed his tongue when she started on his belt buckle next.

"Mm hm. And you know what else? I really like chocolate, but what would make me like it even _more_ is if we took turns licking it off each other's naked bodies."

This was a strange time for Pyrrha to decide she wanted to add role playing to their extra-curricular relationship, but who was he to complain. That was the last class of the day, and Pyrrha had locked that door so well, no one was getting in even if they had a key.

"Well Ms. Nikos, are you ready for some intensive tutoring?"

Pyrrha gave him an absolutely wicked smile, and a brief peck on the lips, before she stood up, and let her blouse fall to the floor.

Jaune had a final moment of conscious thought, before he became engrossed in a very hands-on teaching experience, _'I wonder if this is covered in Beacon's insurance policy?'_

Once Pyrrha reached for the chocolate, Jaune decided he no longer cared.

END


	8. Chapter 8

**Sweeter than Chocolate**

The Prompt: "Jaune discovers that his partner is a chocoholic, and he just so happens to know a good recipe for a chocolate fondant."—Lord Farsight

Response:

Jaune smiled as he put the finishing touches on the baklava. He knew that Pyrrha's birthday was a month away, but as far as the leader of Team JNPR was concerned, there was no excuse needed to do things for his team, and especially his partner. Once it finished cooling, he made certain to divide it up in equal portions for each of his friends. There was some for each member of Team RWBY, and Ren and Nora. Pyrrha of course got her own pan because she was his partner

Jaune hummed to himself as he finished putting each gift basket together. People that thought decorating was not a manly skill obviously didn't know how much work it took to do well. Once he was finally finished, Jaune made certain to deliver Team RWBY's baked delights to Weiss personally, since he knew she had enough restraint to make sure everyone on her team got their fair share. Ren and Nora's shares were delivered to Ren in their dorm for much the same reason.

Finally, Jaune made his way to the weight room, in the gym, where he knew his partner was working on her core strengthening exercises.

He found his partner finishing up a round of squats, her exertion hardly evident as she finished her last set. She took a moment to wipe the sweat from her face with her nearby towel. She turned and smiled brightly at his approach, "Hello, again!"

"Hey, Pyr," Jaune smiled back, I know you just finished your set, and I wanted to bring you something since you're working so hard..."

The Mistral champion was instantly curious as she spied the tastefully decorated basket in her partner's hand. "A present? What is it?"

"Ah, ah, ah, Ms. Nikos! That would be telling! Go get your shower, and you can have your surprise after." JNPR's leader mock ordered as he pointed imperiously toward the showers.

Pyrrha turned up the charm, pouting ever so slightly, as she tilted her head to look up at Jaune from under her lashes. It would have been devastating to any male that hadn't grown up under the watchful gaze of seven sisters. Jaune had long been immune to such tactics. His gaze did not falter, and finally Pyrrha huffed before making her way to the showers as quickly as possible

After taking a quick but thorough shower, because hygiene was important, surprise gift or no, Pyrrha found Jaune waiting for her, sitting on a nearby weight bench. He laughed when he saw her damp hair. "Someone's eager..."

She playfully slugged him in the shoulder as she reached for the basket.

Jaune quickly pulled it out of her reach, "Not so fast, Pyr. Oum, as eager as you are, I bet you even try to peek at your Dustmas gifts early, huh?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Jaune. Anything my parents have told you on the subject is hearsay and slander."

Jaune chuckled as he finally relented and handed her the basket, suddenly nervous. "I hope you like it.. I experimented a bit with my grandmother's old recipe for fondant, and combined it with some Mistrali flair since you said you were missing home."

In contrast to her earlier excitement, Pyrrha was very careful about opening the gift. When she'd unraveled the bow, and opened the box, her eyes filled with tears, "Jaune, how did you know baklava was my favorite pastry?"

Jaune rubbed the back of his head as he sighed in relief. "That was honestly a lucky guess. The real surprise is the filling, I just needed an easy to make Mistralian pastry to hold it. Baklava fit the bill."

After wiping away her tears of happiness, the sight reminding her so much of home, Pyrrha daintily took a pastry, and wrapped it in one of the convenient napkins in the basket.

The scent of the pastry is what she noticed first. The rich aroma of baked cocoa, and spices set her mouth to watering before she had even had the first bite.

Jaune watched with bated breath as she daintily nibbled her first taste of his baking efforts. Her eyes widened, gaining a strange manic gleam as she swallowed that first bite. He smiled in relief, she apparently liked it.

Pyrrha Nikos was in heaven.

The delectable, flaky pastry combined with what Pyrrha was beginning to suspect was two different types of chocolate, along with almonds and honey was quickly taking it's place as the most amazing food in Remnant in her eyes. It helped that Jaune was the one to make it. That made it even more special.

The rich, subtle hints of dark chocolate paired well with the milk chocolate Jaune had layered into the pastry. Pyrrha didn't even know it was possible to do such a thing!

As she finally swallowed the first bite of the most incredible pastry in creation, Pyrrha could not restrain herself from letting out a moan that was very vocal in appreciation. In fact, it would not be out of place in one of Blake's favorite books.

Once she realized that there were six more pastries in the box, Pyrrha threw manners out the window, and nearly inhaled the remains of the first pastry with a will.

Jaune looked on in wonder, impressed with his partner's disappearing act.

Pyrrha observed her partner with a half-lidded gaze, staring at him with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.

"Jaune~!" she whispered, "I'm not complaining, but why exactly did you decide to make these for me?"

Jaune beamed at her. "Do I need a reason to spoil the woman I love?"

Pyrrha smiled, deciding that such an answer deserved a reward. She lunged forward, but Juane was ready.

His stance was wide, and low to the ground. He caught his partner as she wrapped her arms around his neck, using their momentum to spin her around before setting her back down in place. Pyrrha shrieked her laughter, giggling madly

He leaned in and kissed her as she was catching her breath

'I was wrong' Pyrrha decided, as she tightened her hold on the man she loved, 'Jaune's kisses are definitely sweeter than chocolate.'

END


	9. Chapter 9

**Teacher's Lounge**

As Jaune and Pyrrha took off away from her office as quickly as they could, Glynda smirked, ' _Still got it'_

With that, she quickly made her way to the elevator, using her scroll to access the secret floor level of Beacon. Down the elevator went, past the basement levels, the hidden level where Amber resided, and even the level below that where the secret Artifact of Power was hidden.

With each level the elevator descended, Glynda lost a piece of clothing. First her hair came loose from it's braid, flowing freely down her back. Next was her blouse, thrown to the floor in her haste, revealing a tantalizing expanse of cream colored skin. Her skirt went next, tossed next to the blouse. Finally, off came the glasses, neatly put away in a convenient case she kept in the pocket of her blouse.

When the elevator finally stopped, opening its doors to reveal a lavish lounge, Glynda Goodwitch was unrecognizable.

Gone was the stern countenance of a strict teacher, and in its place stood a woman, confident, yet relaxed, for now unconcerned with rules and propriety. Glynda strode out of the elevator, swaying her hips a bit as she sashayed into the lounge. The leather corset she wore doing interesting things to her assets.

Arriving at the bar, Glynda sat with a flourish, giving her colleague behind the bar a smile as she ordered a Scotch neat. Barty, the chosen bartender for that weekend, gave her a smile before pouring her drink, "Tough day?"

Glynda smiled as she took a satisfying sip, savoring the smooth taste, "Not really. Just a bit awkward. Ms. Nikos and Mr. Ark got a bit too eager with their affections. She lost control of her semblance and Mr. Winchester now has a concussion thanks to her shield flying out the window of their dorm."

Barty smirked, "Well since I am officially of the clock at the moment, I can officially say that I hope it knocked the racism out of him."

Glynda laughed as she raised her glass in salute, "Indeed. Shame about the cake though."

"Cake?" Barty asked.

"Yes. Mr. Arc baked a cake to finally ask out Ms. Nikos. She was so overjoyed she tackled him. The cake went flying, landing on them. Ms. Nikos took the chance to show her affection for both Mr. Arc and chocolate."

Barty laughed, "Indeed? Well in that case, I believe Ms. Anastasia Peach owes me some lien. If you will excuse me..."

Glynda set her glass down, waving farewell to her friend, before getting up and striding through the lounge. She walked past Port, regaling Qrow and Professor Peridot with the tale of the time he and Barty ate brownies at a party and then got a craving for Mistralian gyros and calamari. Supposedly, they had even ridden on the back of a cheetah Faunus criminal that tried to rob them at one point.

Glynda continued past the tasteful leather furniture, and arrived at her destination: Ozpin's back room.

Opening the door, she couldn't help but smirk. He was already prepared.

Indeed, he was, Ozpin sat comfortably on the bed, clad only in comfortable sweatpants, lean muscles on display. His normal glasses and even coffee cup were absent.

He smiled at her as he showed the bolt of silk cloth he had acquired for this evening.

"Glynda, I've had a very long week. I'm ready to relieve some stress."

The blonde smirked, a wicked gleam entering her eye as she closed and locked the door.

Yes. It was definitely time for some stress relief.

"Alright, then. Do you remember the safe word?" she asked. They never used it, but it never hurt to be cautious.

"Indeed. I believe we decided on 'Salem' last week, yes?"

Glynda giggled, that still amused her.

But now, to business and pleasure...

Using her semblance, the blonde quickly unraveled the cloth, lifting both Ozpin and the silk into the air with a flex of her aura. Ozpin went willingly, and soon, he was suspended in mid-air by the silk, suspended on catches bolted into the ceiling for that specific purpose.

Restraints in place, Glynda strode forward, swishing her riding crop. It was time for some stress relief.

Unseen by the two human occupants of the room, the Geist Grimm floated away, carrying news to its mistress.

Back in the Grimm Lands, Salem watched the events play out through the eyes of her servant when the Geist arrived in her chambers.

She was livid! How dare that bitch mock her! They were supposed to be family! All those years ago when they had helped Ozpin, giving him a reason to live, teaching him the joy of helping others, and showing him what it meant to live clearly meant nothing to either of them! She was the one who loved him first! He was supposed to be hers! She was the original Maiden of Winter!

Instead, she was spurned for her sister, perfect little Glynda, the wielder of the powers of summer. Yes, all of the sisters had received some of his power, but only Glynda had his heart. Salem let loose a growl of impotent fury, sending a pack of beowolves running. This was never about ideals and philosophies. Simple souls? Ha! It all came down to one thing really: Her sister had stolen her man, and Salem wanted him back, whatever the cost. And if that meant tearing the world apart, to teach him a lesson, so be it.

Salem wandered off in a huff to check her battery drawer, hoping she had enough D-Cells to try out that new toy she had ordered. The villainous, jilted woman planned, plotted, and stewed in her own sad loneliness.

Perhaps she would string Tyrion and Watts up in her dungeon again. They made such willing, eager gimps...

END


	10. Chapter 10

**Eucalyptus and Mint**

Prompt: "Jaune managed to beat Cardin in combat class, but his shoulder is killing him. Pyrrha to the rescue!"—Lord Farsight

Response:

Jaune smiled up at his team, who were cheering him on in the stands, despite the searing pain in his shoulder. Even with his aura reserves, taking a direct hit from Cardin's +5 Mace of Overcompensation was serious. The skin wasn't broken, but Jaune could feel that there were traces of Fire Dust coating his shoulder where his armor had come off earlier in the match.

He staggered over to collect his left piece of shoulder armor, after returning Crocea Mors to its sheath form. He tried his best to massage the affected muscle, but since he didn't have a cloning semblance, it was proving very difficult to reach.

 _'Honestly, what's the use of having massage therapy training if I can't even use it to help myself?_ ' the blonde grumbled mentally, _'Worst. Superpower. Ever.'_

The blonde sighed as he staggered up to the bleachers, doing his best to hide his wince as Nora enthusiastically hugged him.

"That was awesome Fearless Leader! You totally broke Cardin's nose with that last shield bash to the face! It's not as good as breaking his legs, but you'll get there, don't worry!"

Nora was, as usual, a hyperactive ball of energy. Ren sighed, laying a gentle hand on his leader's shoulder, "Congratulations, you've earned this victory," the boy stated with his usual half smile.

Jaune could only offer a smile and a quiet "Thanks," he was so focused on trying to ignore his pain.

Pyrrha, oddly enough, didn't say anything. She merely laid a hand on his shoulder and offered a bright smile, full of confidence in him, before trading a look with Ren. Jaune missed this, too busy trying to hide a grimace of pain.

Professor Goodwitch cleared her throat, "That is all for today, students. Be sure to work on the flaws I pointed out to you in your assessment today. You will be graded for technique accordingly next class. Dismissed."

Jaune almost sighed in relief. Combat Class was the last of the day, so now he was looking forward to taking a shower, some medicine, and sleeping like the dead since they didn't have classes tomorrow.

The blonde followed dutifully behind the rest of his team, as they made their way back to the dorms. He may have been distracted by pain, but he was still aware enough of his surroundings to notice Ren and Nora splitting away from them to go do Oum-knows-what.

Jaune quirked an eyebrow at his partner as she used her scroll to open the door. She merely shrugged.

He put it from his mind as he grabbed his pajama pants and a t-shirt, before making his way into the bathroom to shower. When he was done, and deemed himself ready for sleep, he exited the bathroom to find something very odd.

His partner was standing by his bed, clad in her own usual sleepwear of a light-colored camisole, and holding a jar of something that smelled strongly of eucalyptus and mint.

"Uh, Pyr? What are you doing?"

The redhead gave him a soft smile that was a complete contrast to the serious look in her eyes.

"Take of your shirt, Jaune."

The blonde blushed heavily, eyes wide as he gaped at his partner, "Could you repeat that? I can't possibly have heard you properly."

The Mistral champion's expression became determined, "Take. Off. Your. Shirt."

The blonde recognized the tone from growing up in a house with eight women and so gave the only proper response: Instant obedience.

Once the shirt was off, Pyrrha was all smiles again, "Get on the bed, and lay down on your stomach."

Jaune merely nodded, complied, knowing that when his partner got like this it was best just to go along with her, _'This must be what Ren feels like all the time'_ Jaune wondered.

Once Jaune was settled as Pyrrha instructed, he had to suppress an unmanly squeal of surprise when he felt his partner settle herself over his hips.

He was keenly aware that his beautiful partner had seated herself on top of him. It took a tremendous amount of willpower not to think about the parts of her body that were now in contact with his, separated by only a few thin layers of clothing. Jaune struggled to swallow, his mouth suddenly very dry, and his body now tensing in other areas that had nothing to do with his pained shoulder.

"What are you doing?!" the blonde's voice cracked noticeably in his nervous panic, going almost a whole octave higher.

Though he couldn't see it, Pyrrha was smiling at him as she opened the jar of sweet smelling oils, humming lightly as she scooped some out and began to apply it to his back.

"Shh, Jaune. I'm going to give you a deep tissue massage to help with the pain. I knew the way you took that last blow from Cardin's mace was going to hurt your shoulder. I saw injuries like this all the time in the arena. I could see you putting up brave front when we were in class, but I knew you were hurting.

"Now," the redhead said, voice stern, "Just try to relax while I work out all these terrible kinks."

The blonde did his best to retreat to a professional mind-set. This was just a massage. Pyrrha was just being a good partner! Partners did stuff like this for each other all the time, right!?

His professionalism lasted until she started rubbing the oil into his skin, fingers gently brushing into the knots of his back before she used her considerable strength to loosen them with ruthless efficiency. In the back of his mind, Jaune was keeping a mental critique of her technique. She was definitely an amateur at this, but what she lacked in experience, Pyrrha was making up for with strength and enthusiasm.

Jaune let out a low groan when her fingers found a particularly troublesome spot on his lower back.

From her seat atop him, Pyrrha blushed mightily. She could feel all the blood in her body collecting in her face.

When Jaune let out another groan of relief, and a tightly exhaled "Yes~!" the Mistral native felt a pleasant, tingle and a fluttering tension shoot through her body and collect...elsewhere.

All too soon, the massage was over, and Pyrrha removed herself from her partner, to let him sit up.

"H-how do you feel?" the Champion shyly asked.

"Pretty good, actually," was his blushing reply, "You're pretty good at this for someone with no formal training."

Pyrrha's competitive nature reared at the note of challenge in his voice, "Oh?" she asked, "And I suppose you have training then?"

"Yes, actually," the blonde replied, "One of my sisters is a physical therapist that helps Hunters recover from injuries that aura can't deal with by itself. I helped her study. I even audited some of the classes. I figured some medical training could come in handy out in the field. I don't have a degree or anything, but..."

Pyrrha quirked an eyebrow, hand on her hip.

"I can definitely show you a thing or two," Jaune laughed, "Your grip needs to be wider and lower to the ground."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, but it was now Jaune's turn to be serious as he retrieved a clean towel from their linen closet.

"I'm going to turn around. Take off the camisole, wrap the towel around your waist, and lay on the bed face down."

The redhead blushed prettily, but her competitive nature would not allow the challenge to go unanswered.

When she had fully complied with his request, Jaune took his own scoop of the sweet oils, and applied them to his partner's back...

Together they experienced a whole new kind of intense training regimen, one that left them hot, sweaty, and sore for completely new reasons…

END


	11. Chapter 11

**Bougainvillea Blossoms**

The Prompt: "Pyrrha is just back from a tiring interview, and feels again like a statue on a pedestal. What does Jaune do to make her happier?

they're in the "not official or asked, but already acting like it" phase on the road to a relationship." –Lord Farsight

Response:

Pyrrha sighed as she practically collapsed onto her bed, grateful that the studio let her wear more casual clothes for her interview, so she didn't have to worry so much about changing. Unfortunately, that was the only positive thing about the interview she just experienced.

Every question was about her recent wins on the tournament circuit, or what it was like to be an incredibly talented celebrity that was essentially carrying her team.

It was emotionally and mentally exhausting, and did nothing but reinforce her fears she wasn't seen as a person by the vast majority of people. It was times like this that Pyrrha honestly wanted to curl up and cry.

She was distracted from her pity party by the timely arrival of her partner, who entered their room carrying a plastic bag that smelled heavily of rich, fertile earth.

Her team leader took one look at her and set the bag down by his bed, before marching over to her bed and sitting himself down by her legs, "Tough interview?" he asks as he moves her legs so that she is using his lap as a footstool.

Pyrrha only nods, giving her partner a melancholic smile that lasts until Jaune starts on an absolutely glorious foot massage.

"You have exactly one hour to stop that, Mr. Arc..." the champion proclaims, obviously sore from being on her feet all day.

Jaune merely winks at her, "Whatever you say, partner."

Pyrrha giggles, before allowing herself to fully relax at his touch. And with physical relaxation comes emotional relaxation.

Over the next 20 minutes of glorious massage action, Pyrrha confesses her worries and fears that the interview reinforced to one of the few people she was certain did not see her that way.

Jaune was a patient and attentive listener. When Pyrrha was finally done, Jaune moved her legs to stand up and retrieve the bag that he had set by his bed.

Pyrrha let him go reluctantly. She had been hoping to get him to start on her back next.

She absolutely did not pout.

Jaune came back with the bag, and presented it with a smile to his partner.

She opened it, and gasped.

Inside, was a window planter filled with fresh soil, some new bulbs, and everything one could possibly need for plant care.

Jaune rubbed the back of his head nervously, as he offered an explanation.

"I was out picking up stuff for our team dinner this weekend, when I noticed this flower shop that was having a sale. I remembered you mentioning last week how you loved helping your grandmother tend her garden when you were a girl, so I thought..."

He didn't get to say anymore, as Pyrrha nearly tackled him in her excitement, the tears she had been keeping at bay now staining his shirt, for a completely different reason.

Pyrrha pulled away quickly, offering a radiant smile to her partner, before wiping her eyes. She reached for the bag again, eager to see what kind of bulbs her partner had acquired.

"Bougainvillea blossoms?" Pyrrha asked, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

Jaune shrugged, "They made me think of you."

Pyrrha's blush became much more visible, as she practically melted on the spot, resisting the urge to slam her partner up against a wall and make out with him. But only just.

She didn't think he knew exactly what the flowers meant in Mistralian culture, but that didn't lessen the gesture at all.

 _'If anything, that makes it more adorably charming'_ the young warrior thought to herself, _'And these were always grandmother's favorite'_

With a giggle, the champion took her partner's hand, and they spent a delightful evening gardening.

Pyrrha's worries were forgotten, secure in the knowledge that to the people that mattered most to her, she was not Pyrrha Nikos The Invincible Girl.

She was Pyrrha Nikos, The Regular Girl.

END


	12. Chapter 12

**Confessions and Closets**

Prompt: "Nora is starting to be sick of this all. Pyrrha doesn't realize just how thirsty she is acting. So, it falls to Nora "Matchmaker" Valkyrie to fix this! She just didn't expect to get her dream boy along the way ..." —Lord Farsight

Response:

Nora watched her friends, hunched over Pyrrha's scroll, and did her best not to scowl.

Jaune and Pyrrha were watching some new movie trailer, sitting very close together. Every now and again, their thighs or hands would brush up against each other, causing the two to blush and look away. Pyrrha would even get this sort of dazed look on her face, as if she were imagining something intense when Jaune touched her.

It was enough to drive a Valkyrie crazy!

They had been at this for months, and Nora was sick of it! There had to be some way to get these two to realize they were perfect for each other! Her tiny Arkos pennants were not stitched in vain!

Finally losing her cool, Nora pushed herself away from their group study table, strewn with books, and stormed off to plot.

Jaune and Pyrrha never looked up from her scroll.

Ren looked up long enough to see where Nora was going, before waiting to see if his "Nora Sense" was triggered. When there was no spine tingling feeling of emminent property damage, the young man just shrugged and went back to reading his history text book.

Later, Ren found his partner sitting outside of a supply closet in the hallway near one of the service hallways and muttering to herself.

"Nora," Ren asked cautiously, "What are you doing?"

"Ren!" the hammer wielder exclaims, grabbing her partner ab0ut the shoulders, and giving him a slightly manic stare, "I need you to help me lure Jaune and Pyrrha into this closet! We will trap them here, and force them to admit their feelings for each other!"

Ren sighed. He knew this would only end in tears. Still, it was important to Nora, and it was to make their friends happy...

"Okay. I'l see what I can do."

Hours later, Ren was leading his two socially awkward team mates down the same corridor, "looking for Nora's scroll."

Neither of the two dorks were expecting it when they entered the janitors closet, so were a bit startled when the door suddenly closed.

Jaune immediately tried the door. "Uhh, Ren, buddy, I think we're locked in."

"Yes. You are." came Ren's usual deadpan tone.

"Uh, any chance you'll let us out there, bro?" Jaune queried.

"Not until you two admit your attraction and JUST BOOP ALREADY!" Nora roared, startling the two trapped teens.

Jaune sighed before turning to Pyrrha, "You know, in retrospect, we probably should have seen this coming."

Pyrrha sighed before taking a seat on a convenient bucket, "Do you think we can wait them out?"

"NEVER!" came Nora's ardent reply, "You two are best friends that are obviously totally attracted to each other! You need to stop dancing around it and talk to each other! You're partner's for Oum's sake!"

"I bet they can feel the irony on Patch right now..." Jaune muttered, and then he was inspired.

"You're kidding, right Nora?" the blonde called, "You and Ren are attracted to each other too! And you've been friends for years but aren't together-together! As hard as it is for you to talk about, imagine how Pyrrha and I must feel!"

"We're best friends! We tell each other everything, our hopes and dreams! We rely on and support each other! And sure, Pyrrha is words-failingly gorgeous, and so far out of my league she's on another planet, but do you think I want to possibly ruin what we have?! She's the most incredible person I know, and I'm just lucky to be her friend! If you two can't get together then clearly there's no hope for the rest of us!"

Jaune took in a few big gulps of air, trying to catch his breath after his emotional tirade. The other side of the door was suspiciously silent.

Jaune turned suddenly, panicking at the sound of sobbing coming from behind him. _'Pyrrha's crying?!_ '

Jaune turned and immediately went into best friend mode, enfolding his partner in a hug, and whispering in her ear, "Shhh. It's okay, Pyrrha. I'm here..."

That seemed to calm the champion down. She gently pulled away from her best friend, blushing when he gently wiped the last of her tears away with his thumbs.

"Sorry, Jaune, I didn't mean to start blubbering like that."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm the one that screwed up. Whatever I did, I'm sorry..."

He was completely unprepared for his partner's glare as she stood up from her bucket chair.

"Jaune, I have been put on a pedestal my entire life. I have been blessed with extraordinary gifts and abilities. The problem is, once people put you on a pedestal, they stop seeing you as a person. You never did that to me! You were the first person to see me as just a person instead of a thing that can make them famous! You are an amazing person! A kind leader! And a splendid Huntsman!"

Jaune rubbed the back of his head, nervous as ever when complimented, especially from Pyrrha.

"I'm not that great, really. I'm sure there are tons of guys out there loads better than me that can sweep you off your feet and be worthy of being your partner..."

"Don't you dare, Jaune Arc!" Pyrrha raged, "You have managed in the span of a few short weeks to master several basic forms that normally take months to master. You have leadership qualities, are strong and compassionate, not to mention handsome..."

Pyrrha looked away at this last part, startled by her own admission, and incredibly nervous.

"You think I'm kind, compassionate, a great hunter, and, um, handsome?" Jaune expelled with a squeak.

Pyrrha gave a blushing nod before breathing deeply, marshalling her courage. Eventually, she just decided to come right out and say it, "Jaune, I really like you. I felt drawn to you when we first met and that has only become stronger with time. You are my partner, my best friend, but I would like something more."

Now it was Jaune's turn to blush, and look away, before nervously replying "Well after all that, I guess there's really only one thing left to say. Want to get some coffee or something when we get out of here?"

Pyrrha's smile was truly radiant, "That would be grand!"

Meanwhile, in the corridor...

Nora was blushing terribly, fidgeting, and refusing to make eye contact with her partner.

Ren, by contrast, was simply looking at her, expression as placid and serene as ever.

"So, uh, we've been together for a really really long time! And I uh..." Nora stuttered uncharacteristically, terrified at the step she was about to take, "Whenever I think about you, about us together-together I get really nervous! My stomach does flips and my brain does flops! I really, really like you but I just don't want to lose you being my best friend and..."

Ren stopped her stream of nervous babble with a gentle finger on her lips. Nora blushed a red to rival Pyrrha's hair, eyes wide as she stared at her partner's serene expression. How could he be so calm about this?!

Ren gave one of his signature smirks as he removed his finger from his partner's lips. She followed it with her eyes.

"I'd thought we were together for a long time now actually," Ren stated, "I don't just make pancakes at 1 in the morning for everyone..."

Nora gasped, as Ren gently took her hand in his. She could swear her heart is pounding, as his other hand stroked her cheek, wiping away a few nervous tears.

"Nora?"

Yes, Ren?"

The ninja of Team JNPR reached out quickly, tapping his partner on the nose, "Boop!"

When Professor Goodwich was making her rounds later that day, she was confused to find a maintenance closet that looked as though the door had been nearly ripped from it's hinges it was opened so quickly.

Ren and Nora were busy in their dorm, discovering new meaning to the term "Boop!"

Jaune and Pyrrha were in down town Vale, enjoying the delights of an out-of-the-way bakery cafe to satisfy Pyrrha's never ending desire for all things chocolate.

They were very much enjoying their first date.

Eventually, they left the cafe, enjoying the serene stroll back to Beacon, hand in hand...

END


	13. Chapter 13

**Marriages and Dragons**

Prompt: "Jaune, heir to the kingdom of Cadia, has left home to adventure in hopes of finding a nice woman to marry, because he HATES that he's supposed to fulfill some prophecy about marrying the princess of the kingdom of Astakos, their rival, to bring peace. Can't they bring peace without the unwanted wedding? Thankfully, he found his best friend, Pyrrha, and they've been married for 6 months now. No way that prophecy is getting to him now, HA!" –Lord Farsight

Response:

Jaune smiled as he entered his log cabin home, carrying another bundle of fire wood. Once he placed it down by the wood stove, he was free to take in the absolutely glorious sight of his wife preparing breakfast.

Once she removed the last pan from the stove, and plated the last pancake, he hugged her close from behind, making sure to kiss that spot on her neck he knew was particularly sensitive. She smiled at his touch.

"Good morning my Handsome Prince," Pyrrha said with a giggle.

"Good Morning my Gorgeous Princess," Jaune replied.

It was a familiar ritual greeting between them, developed over the six months that they had been married. It was also a bit of an in-joke.

Jaune, the actual prince of the kingdom of Arcadia, had fled his kingdom to escape a prophecy and an arranged marriage.

To be specific, the prophecy that stated he would marry the princess of the rival kingdom of Astakos and bring peace and prosperity to the land.

Jaune was all for peace and prosperity. Truth be told, outside of hunting, fishing, and the things required for every day survival, he abhorred violence.

His best friend Pyrrha was much the same. She had been a commoner, whose family had been part of the staff that worked in his family's castle for the last two generations.

They had played together as children quite often. Jaune, growing up with seven sisters, didn't really experience a "girls are icky" stage, and so the two were fast friends, even as children.

When Jaune hatched his scheme to travel the kingdom, and find a suitable bride in order to avoid his prophetic marriage, Pyrrha all but demanded to go with him. She didn't like the thought of him traveling alone, and was eager to escape the life of the royal court. Many of the boys there that the two had grown up with were starting to take notice of her beauty, and their attitudes toward women were nowhere near as progressive as her best friend's.

And so the two set off, settling on a small cabin property that Jaune's father had built several years back as a sort of hunting retreat for himself.

Jaune and Pyrrha decided to make liberal use of it in order to have a comfortable place to plan their travels.

That was the plan at first.

The space was small and intimately cozy. There was only one bed. The two young people discovered that though they had shared a bed as children, sharing a bed as teens on the verge of adulthood was vastly different.

The close proximity, and intimate atmosphere led to a long overdue conversation between the best friends.

Feelings were shared, and because they were certain that they didn't want anyone else, they rushed off to the nearest Temple of Oum to get married. After reciting the Oum Temple Prayer, or OTP as it was commonly called, the two were bound as one in marriage.

It was here that they shared their first kiss.

And that night, their feelings were explored further.

Six times before exhaustion finally claimed them.

In the six months that they had been married, they had set a new record practically every week. Who would have thought that the Vacuan Kingdom's art of Yoga would be so helpful?

Of course, all that changed that afternoon when Jaune rode into town to restock some of their supplies.

People were scared. There were terrible rumors of a dragon, a dark and monstrous beast of legend, terrorizing the kingdom of Astakos, and beginning to make it's way to Arcadia.

Jaune and Pyrrha left their beautiful home, in order to help their friends and family.

They tracked the dragon to the border between Arcadia and Astakos. They made a valiant stand with several warriors from Arcadia and managed to push the beast back across the Arcadian border. The Arcadian warriors could not pursue the beast any further, and so, refusing to let the common folk suffer the beast if they could help it, Jaune and Pyrrha pursued the fell monster deep into the heart of the rival kingdom.

Eventually, they tracked it to the capital city of Astakos, Autumn, home of the rumored Witch Queen Cinder.

They were met with hostility at first when they claimed to be there to help slay the dragon. The townspeople also kept giving Pyrrha some very strange looks. Queen Cinder changed her mind very quickly when the dragon began to attack the castle directly, giving the husband and wife team permission to fight the dragon.

Jaune sword and shield were legendary Arc artifacts, said to be enchanted to turn away the hardiest of blows and able to cut through the darkest of magic.

This legend proved to be quite true when the dragon attacked the throne room after taking a large chunk out of the wall.

Jaune's shield threw aside the dragon's claws, and his sword cut through its flames, leaving Pyrrha a clear path to attack the dragon.

Her spear struck true, taking it in the heart, and killing it instantly. Sadly, what the two didn't realize until after the battle was over, was that there was a sacrifice for their victory. When Jaune had diverted the flames with his sword, they had hit Queen Cinder's throne. She had stayed, calmly seated, while Jaune and Pyrrha fought the dragon.

They had thought that odd, until the woman erected a strange bubble of energy around herself.

Apparently, the rumors were true.

It did nothing to help her, however. When the dragon's fire struck her shield, it shattered like glass and she was melted to ash by the flames.

Sadly, despite her name, Queen Cinder was not fire proof.

The merriment and joy of the dragon's defeat was to be expected.

However, the sheer relief and happiness of the people was more than that. It spoke of a much deeper, fervent happiness, of a hope that was bigger than the kingdom's dragon problem.

Eventually, the whole story came out.

Queen Cinder had assassinated many key government officials using fell magic, and installed herself as Queen almost thirty years ago.

The king, queen, their parents, and some retainers had feld into the night.

From that day on, Cinder had made use of her dark magic, instilling fear into her subjects, and if anyone disagreed?

They were sent to the dungeons, never to be seen again.

Turns out, the Witch Queen had been using the very souls of her victims to keep herself young, and gathering the corpses.

These she eventually made use of to create something truly heinous: A dragon.

It had been her weapon of war. She had planned to use it to invade and conquer the remaining kingdoms of Remnant.

That didn't go so well.

Of course, the most shocking revelation came when Pyrrha's parents and grandparents made the trip to Astakos.

If Jaune and Pyrrha thought the commoners' behavior was strange before, it was absolutely mind-boggling to see people stop and bow to her parents, the maid and the chef.

And then the truth came out. The royal family that fled into the night when Cinder took over?

Turns out it was Pyrrha's grandparents, the king and queen and their young son, the prince.

Pyrrha and Jaune were shocked.

Even more so when they realized why their parents never fought them on travelling together.

They knew this would happen!

Of course, once they had an "official" wedding ceremony, they decided that they really didn't care.

And if the bride chose to wear a blue dress that matched the color of her husband's eyes instead of the traditional white, no one said a word.

And if the line of succession was firmly secured by the birth of their son eight months after the wedding, that was no one's business but their own.

END


	14. Chapter 14

An omake for Solvdrage's excellent "Beacon: Academy that wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. Hopefully it'll inspire him to put out the next chapter sooner. Enjoy, especially you, Solv-pai!

 **New Game Plus**

Jaune and Pyrrha smiled as they met up again on the bullhead to Beacon. Even though their last play through ended in victory, unlike the original, it was still a relief to be reunited after such a long physical separation.

They were still able to keep in touch with their co-op chatting ability, even though they chose to start their new game plus from the very beginning.

They both thought it was incredibly odd that they could still communicate, even during conception of all things; but chalked that up to another strange design quirk from PNKE.

Neither of them would be able to listen to Larry White music again though.

And Jaune was still surprised that he was able to swim so fast. Where was that speed during his middle school championship?

He and Pyrrha just agreed that it was one of Remnant's greatest mysteries.

Being able to tell each other about their day, often as it was happening was great for their relationship. Even if they couldn't be with each other physically.

And that was certainly frustrating!

Surprisingly, it was Pyrrha that discovered the way around that.

After a particularly intense training session, where she was trying to master a new technique for her first run through the Mistral Regional Championship this game, she was approached by one of the senior boys of Sanctum.

Pyrrha was unimpressed, and used the beat down she delivered as her post work out cool down routine.

Pyrrha's annoyance at the boy's arrogance was so strong that it came through the chat though. This discovery led to some very interesting post workout routines for the two.

They both now had an intimate understanding of what they each felt during their release. How many other couples could say that?

And so, with this new connection, the duo was able to stand the long wait until Beacon this time, if only just. Of course, they were both glad for the chance to level their flexibility and dexterity.

Jaune added baking to his skills, and Pyrrha learned to tie very intricate knots with silk.

Jaune even went a step further and dug up a copy of The Kama Sutra from Vacuo, complete with special Faunus fetish section, for when they wanted to be inventive.

And in case they felt like taking advantage of the relationship meter intentionally this time.

Plus, if that new menu was true, and they could theoretically change themselves to become Faunus, with total control over their traits?

Well, Jaune knew Pyrrha thought dogs were adorable. How much more easily could he stay out of trouble with a cute tail and ears? Plus, night vision!

That could definitely be worth a look on another game.

Now, however, the partners were more focused on each other than they had been in years in game.

They were finally reunited in person.

So of course, they did what any young, in love couple would do after a long time apart.

They shagged like bunnies on every surface of Pyrrha's private compartment.

They really got a lot of use out of their increased dexterity and flexibility stats.

After their now traditional christening of their compartment, they had lunch on Cardin's lien thanks to the deft touch Jaune's pick pocketing skill granted him.

Originally, he was just going to use it to slip evidence to Ironwood after stealing from Cinder, but this was more fun.

The only thing better than extravagant food was free extravagant food.

The partners had a very enjoyable three course lunch before finally getting down to business.

"So, the plan is still reverse pick pocketing Cinder with a thumb-drive that actually strengthens Vale's cyber-security, and then exposing her soon after when she gets angry and stupid?"

Pyrrha nodded as she savored another bite of fudge. It was glorious, and free.

It tasted like victory.

"Yes. That should do nicely," Pyrrha claimed as she reluctantly finished the last of her delicious chocolate, "Then we can take care of Cinder while RWBY fights Emerald and Mercury. I really like the game play options these new skills have given us."

Jaune nodded agreement as he sipped the most expensive non-alcoholic drink he could find on the menu, "Yeah. It's definitely weird focusing on stealth and a new sword style without a shield, but the techniques of that Kenshin guy I learned from the class are awesome! I can cut leaves in half as they fall!"

The redhead gave her partner an appreciative glance, enjoying the look of the comfortable pants and silk shirt that reminded her of something Ren would wear. It fit Jaune like a second skin, and brought out the color of his eyes.

She was too busy taking it off earlier to notice.

The blonde in turn sent his partner an over-the-top wink as he drank in the sight of her. She had decided to focus more on hand-to-hand combat the time, as seen by the well-fitting pants and tank-top that seemed more like something Yang would wear. The retractable claws in her gauntlets made for a deadly weapon. She still named them Milo and Akouo, though.

Just as the couple were entertaining thoughts about another round to start burning off their meal, there was a chime sound, followed by an automated voice, warning passengers that they would soon be arriving in Vale.

Pyrrha giggled at the frustrated look on Jaune's face before holding up her glass of juice to toast.

"To a wonderful speed run so that we can spend most of our game on a private nude beach in Mistral!"

Jaune smirked, "And to improving our kill/death ratio! It's time to kill Cinder more times than she's killed us!"

They clinked glasses, and took a last moment to savor the atmosphere of their own private world before grabbing their stuff and getting ready for departure.

On their way out of their room, Jaune made sure to slip Cardin's card back in his pocket as they made their way past. He and Pyrrha shared a laugh over their "party line" though when Cardin moved in the direction of their cabin before the door completely closed.

As they rounded the corner, they heard him turn to the rest of his future team and loudly enquire, "What the hell is that smell?!"

END


	15. Chapter 15

**Melted Sundae**

Jaune had been planning this date for months. Everything was as perfect as he could manage. Since his girlfriend had a taste for the finer things in life, he saved for a month in order to take her out for a night on the town. There was dinner, dancing. They had even gone to see the newest Spruce Willis movie, _'Live Softer'_ , a surprisingly dramatic film in which Willis' character, a thrill-seeking adrenaline junkie married to his work, learns to connect with his young daughter and what it means to have a family.

The young man hummed to himself as he finished fluffing the pillows while his beautiful, super sexy, parasol accessorizing girlfriend, Neo, finished using the bathroom. No unfluffed pillows were going to stop Jaune Arc and Neo...

 _'Come to think of it, what is her last name, anyway? Politan? Poppins? Ah, whatever,'_ Jaune decided. No way was something silly like knowing basic information about someone he had been seeing for almost a year going to stop this Arc love machine! They would let the depths of their feelings be expressed in other ways soon enough...

Just as he finished that thought, his girlfriend of nearly a year, Neo Whatsherface, exited the bathroom, the light in the otherwise dark room casting her profile in shadow. Her sexy silhouette caught Jaune's attention immediately. Her lithe figure was quite distracting, but served to remind Jaune that _'My God, this is actually happening...'_

With the last of his clothes now off, and tossed in a corner, Jaune was ready to add some whipped cream to this ice cream sundae!

 _'So glad I remembered to grab the whipped cream from the kitchen,'_ Jaune thought, remembering at the last minute that he had seen Neo eat it one time, maybe, and that of course meant that it was her favorite dessert ever. Because that's how people worked, right?

Jaune was a bit concerned by his partner's lack of vocal participation when he started kissing his way down her body. In fact, the blonde reflected as he made his way further down her body, he could not even remember her actually speaking at any point during their relationship.

That didn't matter now, though! His goal was almost in reach, and if there was one thing Jaune Arc learned, listening to all of his seven older sisters complain about their boyfriends, it was the importance of foreplay.

With that in mind, Jaune spent the next ten minutes doing his best to lavish his partner with affection and devotion. Her lack of response was a bit disconcerting, though. The blonde knew this was his first time doing anything like this, but surely there should be some reaction other than Neo simply lying motionless without making a sound? Did she take a vow of silence or something?

Jaune shrugged internally, guessing that this was enough time to finally get to the main event. With that in mind, Jaune lined himself up, and after a couple embarrassing false starts, finally guided himself to his destination.

Between one breath and the next, and a particularly enthusiastic thrust, Jaune had done it. He and Neo Whatsherface were finally joined in the most intimate way possible.

The Arc son made a point of making eye contact with his partner, doing his best to convey that he was enjoying this shared experience, and trying to establish an emotional connection along with their physical one.

It must have been working because he finally felt his partner beginning to respond to his ministrations, and beginning to move. Granted, that movement consisted of flopping around, but the inexperienced Arc simply mistook it for enthusiasm. Anything was better than the stillness and silence of before.

Jaune could even now say that he knew what his girlfriend sounded like in the bedroom. He could feel her sharp exhalations against his skin, and the sort of squeaky noise, followed by the sound of air rapidly trying to fill a space.

If Jaune were being honest with himself, it sounded a lot like a dog with a squeaky toy. The teen chose not to dwell on this however, simply glad that he seemed to finally be bringing his partner pleasure. The blonde continued trying to keep eye contact with his partner, which was getting more difficult since her flopping movements were getting more and more frantic.

Jaune guessed she was close. That suited him fine, since he was close too. He finally broke eye contact with his partner, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing in a desperate attempt to delay the inevitable.

This worked for a time, though Jaune noticed without opening his eyes that he had to keep adjusting his hips, so as not to lose his rhythm. He sank lower and lower onto the mattress until his stomach was almost flush with it.

This did have the added bonus of staving off his peak for a few more precious seconds, long enough for him to hear Neo make this really high-pitched squeak, like the sound he imagined a squirrel given helium would make if someone were crazy enough to do such a thing.

With a final gasp, another thrust, and the sudden seizing of seemingly his entire muscular system, Jaune Arc reached his end, saying his partner's name with a forceful exhale, "Neo..."

The blonde wiped the sweat from his brow, rolling off of his partner, before turning to smile at her, "I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did..." the blonde declared, planting a kiss on his girlfriend's brow.

Since she wasn't moving, and seemed perfectly content to lie still as far as Jaune could see, he decided to take the first shower, but not before opening a window to air out the room. No sense having it stink of sweat, after all.

As Jaune turned on the bathroom light, he turned to give his girlfriend a wink, and made sure to leave the door open a crack, just in case she wanted to join him. Was it a trick of the light, or had she gotten skinnier in the last few minutes?

The blonde shrugged to himself. It didn't really matter. He'd love her no matter what she looked like. He put such thoughts from his mind though as he adjusted the temperature of the water to something he could stand.

Uncaring of shame, and believing that he had a passable voice for singing in the shower, since Neo had certainly never said anything, Jaune began to quietly sing the one song he found on OumTube that was perfect for this situation.

That song was by Acorn and the Introvert Archipelago, and Jaune began the opening line with the enthusiasm achievable only by a man that had just gotten some, "I just had intercourse…"

XXXX

Back in the room Neo stirred. Well, to be more accurate, she floated as she caught the air current thanks to the open window. The girl with the interesting color scheme began to move as the wind dictated, moving ever closer to the window and out of the apartment.

Why?

Because Jaune had yet to realize one terrible truth: Neo had no depth. She was literally full of air and nothing else. In other words, she wasn't actually a person. She was in fact, a blow up doll, one designed for a very specific purpose.

Unfortunately, Neo had been designed with the stamina of the average repressed weeb in mind, not someone with the stamina and verility of the Arc line. This meant that during their activities, the seal holding in the air had loosened and come undone, causing her to leak out until she was little more than a shriveled husk.

This shriveled husk was also very susceptible to strong winds, as Neo finally proved when she was finally blown out of the apartment by a strong breeze, guided to parts unknown on the whims of the wind.

Luckily, she wasn't in the air for too long, before being blown into another open window, this one belonging to a particularly repressed bull Faunus with a passion for zippers...

Adam Taurus was having a good day. He had finally bought that new eye liner he had had his eye on, DimeFront had released a new album, tomorrow was trash day! This meant that he would be able to sneak over to Blake's house and empty her trash without her even knowing something was wrong!

He laughed maniacally.

Truly today was a great day. Until Adam opened his bedroom door to be hit with some strange sheet of plastic...

The repressed emo Faunus peeled the plastic from his face to discover that it was not random trash, it was in fact a girl!

"Hello there.." the bull Faunus said in his most flirting tone, which sounded closer to a raspy growl than anything seductive, "Come here often?"

The woman said nothing, seemingly content to let Adam do all the talking, which suited the Faunus just fine. There was only one thing he was truly interested in anyway: Himself.

The Faunus noticed a small opening near the top of the woman's pants, "Excuse me, your button seems to be undone..."

When the woman made no move to readjust it, Adam mentally shrugged before reaching over to do it up himself.

It was like a switch had been flipped. Where once there was a thin lifeless seeming woman, now stood a female with such depth, such sexy amazing curves that Adam simply could not help himself. He simply had to ask this gorgeous creature out right now!

Putting on his best grin, one that he had learned from watching that nice Faunus clown fight the human dressed as a bat, Adam asked , "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

When a particularly strong gust of wind pushed Neo's head forward so that she seemed to give a nod of ascent, Adam was flabbergasted. This was happening!

Before he got too ahead of himself, however, Adam did have the presence of mind to see if this girl would be amendable to his most important request.

"Would you like to slip into something more comfortable?"

Since her silence implied consent in the mind of Adam, the Faunus gave her another grin before rushing to his closet to retrieve the cat eared head band that was part of his Blake Shrine.

After giving an apologetic glance to the poster on the back of his closet door, Play Faunus centerfold Sienna Khan, Adam returned to place the headband on his new dinner companion.

"Since you haven't graced me with a name, may I call you Blake?"

When another wind gust made Neo nod, Adam gave her another "charming" smile before turning to get his new DimeFront CD playing in order to appropriately set the mood...

XXX

Back in the apartment, Jaune finally exited the shower, drying off and leaving the bathroom naked, hoping to entice his partner into another round. However, he was shocked to discover her missing.

"Neo?" Jaune called, voice seemingly echoing in the silence of the room, "Where are you?"

The blonde crossed the room to close the window, before inspecting the bed. The blankets on her side looked rather rumpled, as though she had left in a hurry. She was just gone.

Why would she do that? He had told her everything about himself, even the embarrassing things he had done to afford to treat her to such an expensive date. He had been a teacher's assistant, though the students insisted on calling him "Professor," he had worked at a coffee shop, and even turned to stripping out of desperation to make his rent for the month. At least he could dance...

But after all that, for Neo to just leave? Had he meant so little? Or had she just gotten what she had wanted...?

The Arc gave a depressed sigh, dressing quietly and wondering if it was too late in the evening to go out and drown his sorrows in a plethora of pastries from the cafe around the corner.

Just as Jaune finished getting his shoes on, there was a knock on the door. Grumbling to himself, Jaune opened the door to be met with a pair of the greenest eyes he had ever seen.

Standing in Jaune's doorway was a vision of beauty surpassing any he had ever seen before, even Neo Whatsherface, his definitely ex-girlfriend.

This young woman was nearly as tall as he was, with an athletic build, flawless skin, and the most beautiful red hair he had ever seen.

The Arc scion was immediately smitten. Who cares if it seemed out of character to move on so quickly! When you know you know...

"Hello," the woman introduced herself, giving Jaune a bright smile, "My name is Pyrrha Nikos. I'm sorry to bother you, but I just moved in across the hall from you, and I could really use a hand getting my TV into my apartment."

Jaune smiled, giving her hand a shake, "Jaune Arc. Pleasure to meet you. I'd be happy to help."

After getting Pyrrha's television set up in her apartment, Jaune decided to take the plunge, and see if he could get to know his new neighbor a bit better, "So there's this amazing cafe just around the corner that has some great pastries and coffee. I was just about to head there when you knocked on my door. Would you like to join me?"

Pyrrha gave him another warm smile, accompanied with a slight blush, "That sounds grand!"

The two new neighbors chatted amicably, getting to know each other as they made there way to what would become their regular date spot in a few months time...

XXX

Elsewhere, Adam was making use of Neo for her created purpose for the fifth time. That sounds impressive except for the fact that each round last less than twenty seconds.

With a final frantic thrust and a bellow accompanied by the background music of DimeFront, Adam reached his peak again. What he had forgotten in the heat of the moment was the sharpness of his horns, usually a point of pride.

As he rested his head on the chest of his new Blake, one of his horns punctured her shoulder, tearing into it, and causing a sound not unlike a particularly wet sounding fart, before Neo simply...popped

Adam was left to stare dumbly as bits of Neo rained down around him. The Faunus was brought back to reality by the sight of the kitty ear headband from his Blake shrine landing at his feet.

The frustrated emo edge lord felt that there was only one response to this situation...

Falling to his knees and bursting into tears, eyeliner and mascara running down his face, Adam shouted to the heavens!

"BLAAAAAKE! WHY DOES EVERYTHING I LOVE LEAVE ME?!"

The frustrated bull Faunus collapsed into a sobbing, broken heap as DimeFront's lead singer, Chazz Kreuger, continued to sing on...

END


	16. Chapter 16

**Apology Gift**

Jaune and Pyrrha strolled up to their usual table, hands firmly linked, and grinning widely.

"When did this happen?" Yank asked, after swallowing her current bite of chicken.

"Since Yesterday," Jaune replied, as he reached into his hoodie, retrieving a small parcel, wrapped in bright green paper and topped with a brightly colored bow. Everyone is surprised when he reaches over to hand it to Weiss after pulling Pyrrha's chair out for her, and then seating himself.

"Arc, I know you are a dolt, but not even you are foolish enough to try and court me with your new girlfriend sitting right next to you."

Jaune gave a sheepish smile, even as Pyrrha giggled, "You're right, of course. This is more of an apology gift, Weiss."

The heiress raised one delicate eyebrow imperiously, but still accepted the package, "At least you have enough manners to realize you should be apologizing for being so bothersome."

Weiss' other eyebrow joins the first when the unwraps the package, opening the small box to find..."Two six month membership passes to a dance studio?"

Her cheeks puff in anger, and she pinned Jaune with a flinty gaze, "Mr. Arc, are you implying that I cannot dance?! I will have you know that I have been educated on the finer points of ball room dancing since I could walk! I have excellent courtly manners!" the heiress gave a disdainful sniff, intensifying her glare.

Jaune gave a nervous laugh, raising his hands as if to ward off her glare, "No! It's not for you! Well, not really! These are for you and Neptune!"

Weiss' glare lessened slightly, giving way to frustrated confusion, "Elaborate." she demanded.

"Well, Me, Pyrrha, Sun, and Neptune went to a club last week. I noticed that Neptune always refused to go out onto the dance floor. I figured that he couldn't dance, and I also know you're interested in him, so I figured I could, I dunno, help out...?"

Weiss' glare was now gone completely, replaced with surprise and a touch of eagerness as she considered the possibilities, "Fair enough, but that still doesn't explain why you are doing this in the first place. You were just trying to court me last week!"

The knight gave another nervous laugh, glancing at Pyrrha, who gave him a firm nod, "The thing is, I was never really trying to date you. Well, not after the first couple of weeks anyway."

He now had the table's undivided attention, "That serenade last week says otherwise, Vomit Boy," Yang stated.

"Okay, look. The truth is that Pyrrha and I have been dating secretly since half-way through the term. Every time I made a spectacle of trying to get your attention since then was just that, a spectacle."

"Why do that to yourself?" Blake asked.

"Any why keep it secret?" Ruby wondered.

It was here that Pyrrha took up the tale.

"Well you see, I am bound by several contracts. Or rather I was. Many of them had morality clauses that forbid dating as a means to help me 'protect my image.' It was something my father and manager insisted upon."

Weiss' eyes widened in understanding, "Purity clauses! I see. And your birthday was last week..."

Pyrrha smiled beatifically, "Exactly! After my birthday, I became officially of age. That meant I could finally manage my own contracts. I immediately insisted on the removal of no dating from the morality clauses. Since I am now a legal adult, my sponsors could not refuse."

"So all those times you were pursuing me...? Weiss began.

"Yeah, they were just a front. I was doing it to make a spectacle, and I knew you would never say 'yes' anyway. Reporters may not be allowed on Beacon grounds, but they can still talk to students in Vale. Not even CRDL could dish dirt to the press if everyone thought I was pining for you."

"And I was never approached by anyone else. Reporters would just assume that my celebrity status intimidated any suitors away, the same as in Sanctum." Pyrrha chimed in.

"So yeah, the tickets are an apology for using you as an unwitting decoy for the better part of the school year." Jaune elaborated.

"I see," said Weiss staring down at the tickets absently, "Well in any case, I suppose a 'thank you' is an order. And apology accepted."

"No problem, and thanks Weiss." Jaune said.

"I have to hand it to you, Jaune," Yang chimed in, "That was some quality acting. I really thought you were trying to see if you could make Weiss-cream melt in your mouth, not in your hands."

Blake swatted her partner's shoulder, even as her bow twitched, and her eyes gleamed.

"Ew," said Ruby.

Jaune laughed, "I have seven sisters, guys. Seven. I would have to be brain dead to grow up in a house with eight women and not pick up on how to read signals. I knew Weiss had no interest in me, and I knew Pyrrha did. Even if that is still hard for me to believe."

Pyrrha promptly smacked his shoulder, giving him a playful glare before resting her head on his shoulder. She just couldn't resist a parting shot. Even if the whole thing was an act, watching the vehement rejection of the man she loved was not an easy thing.

"Weiss," she began.

"Yes, Pyrrha?"

"It's actually a very good thing you never took Jaune up on his offer."

"Yes, I know, because he was dating you."

"Well, yes, but that's not the main reason."

Team RWBY looked on in confusion that quickly turned to embarassment when Pyrrha made a show of placing her hand directly in her partner's lap. Her leader blushed, but did not move it.

"Turns out, Jaune is extremely naturally gifted in the carnal arts, and Crocea Mors isn't the only sword he wields," the redhead gave the Schnee a wicked grin, "If he had tried to sheathe 'La Petit Mors' inside of you, he probably would have torn you in half."

The ladies of RWBY blushed brightly, even as Blake's eyes focused on Jaune's lap, and Yang let out a wolf whistle, "It's been a while since I've studied Western Valean, but isn't that slang for..?" Blake asked.

The hand in Jaune lap gave a gentle squeeze, causing the blonde to yelp, and nearly fall forward in surprise.

"Yes," Pyrrha stated, smirking wider as she made eye contact with each member of Team RWBY, "Every. Single. Time. Repeatedly."

END


	17. Chapter 17

**Comical Romance**

"Jaune and Pyrrha are in an asexual relationship! Go!"—Aetheling

Jaune and Pyrrha met at a small, local comic store. It was an average day, in an average town, where nothing ever happened. There was certainly nothing to suggest to either of the two socially awkward teens that today would be the day that their world changed.

The tall scraggly haired blonde was reaching for the last brand new issue of X-ray and Vav, when his fingers brushed against someone else's, "Oh, sorry!"

This was echoed by the owner of the other hand, "I'm sorry!"

Jaune turned fully to see the person he had managed to bump into, and had to repress his shock. It was a girl! She had two X chromosomes! And she was in a comic store! The young man could hardly believe his eyes. What next, a unicorn?

The blonde next noticed that this particular girl, was what many of the jocks in his college termed "hot". Jaune never really was interested in that, but could certainly appreciate her beauty for what it was, much like one appreciates a sunset.

For her part, the young woman was more surprised at the accidental touch, unused to physical contact especially with strangers. She was also surprised at the height of the boy she bumped into. She was used to looking down to talk to most everyone she met. Meeting someone taller was a truly novel experience.

"So, uh, the romance manga section is two aisles down, toward the back..." Jaune rambled, lacking anything else to say in the face of this rare sighting.

The redhead gave him a quizzical look, "Romance manga?"

"Um yeah. You know, the kissy kissy, type comics where the guy sweeps the girl off her feet, and they fall in love and do stuff together. Maybe get married and have babies after fighting off several other cliche obstacles toward being together?" Jaune queries with a disinterested shrug.

The redhead smiles, taking note of the blonde's lack of enthusiasm for the manga, "Actually, I prefer action comics myself. I really want to read the next X-ray and Vav now that I'm all caught up on the other series I've been reading. I'm Pyrrha, by the way," the redhead states, while sticking out her hand.

Jaune stares at it for a moment, looking as though he was about to attempt some life or death mission of vital importance, before steeling his nerves and giving the girl's hand a firm shake.

"Jaune. Nice to meet you. So, you like X-ray and Vav?"

Pyrrha gave him a bright smile, "I really enjoy it. Not much on romance manga, I'm afraid. It never interested me."

The redhead gave a nonchalant shrug, and smiled. Jaune took note of her body language and began to wonder, 'Is she...like me?'

Jaune decided to find out.

"So, Pyrrha, not many girls come here. Those that do are usually buying stuff for their boyfriends."

The redhead gave him a forced smile, used to such questions, and ready to let the blonde down easy. He seemed really nice, so it would be best to get this out of the way quickly. Hopefully he would still want to talk after this.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

Pyrrha was ready for this, and gave her usual response, "No I do not. I've never really been interested in...certain aspects of romantic relationships, so I've never really found anyone worth trying to have a romantic relationship with."

The redhead braced herself for the abrupt end to the conversation she knew was coming. Instead she was thoroughly surprised by the beaming smile that Jaune sent her way.

"Great! Me either!"

The blonde frowned as he realized how that could have sounded, "Wait, I mean that I'm not interested in certain aspects of a relationship either, not that I don't have a boyfriend!"

Pyrrha giggled, ecstatic that she had found someone like herself. It was so liberating being able to talk to someone without that usual tension that had accompanied nearly all her interactions since puberty.

Like the whole rest of the world was playing by a different rule book than her.

It was terribly lonely.

"So how about I buy this issue, and we can read it together? I don't know many people that like comic books, so it would be awesome if we could talk about it after reading?"

The redhead smiled at her new acquaintance before walking with him to the cash register, "Deal! But only if we go sit in the coffee shop across the street and you let me buy us drinks."

The pair shook hands at the register, turning to pay for their shared comic book. The young pimply faced teen at the register gawped at them, seemingly unable to process the scene before him.

The duo didn't care, talking amicably as they wandered over to the coffee shop.

"Hey, Pyr?"

"Yes Jaune?"

"You didn't by chance arrive here on a unicorn, did you?"

The redhead gave him a quizzical look, before she burst into a fit of giggles.

"Afraid not, sorry."

Jaune shrugged, "A shame. I think my friends would believe that easier than me talking to a girl about comic books."

Pyrrha giggled, "Is a girl liking comic books so rare?"

"Among my friends? Only one of them reads because she enjoys it."

Pyrrha laughed as they ordered their drinks, and found a comfortable table to enjoy their drinks and reading material.

"Well, I'm sure they will be fun to meet regardless."

And indeed, they were. The group of young people were shocked when Pyrrha was introduced to them as both a girl and an actual fan of comic books.

The meeting went about as Jaune expected. Pyrrha was a big hit.

And she was even able to hold her own in conversations with Yang...

"So, let me get this straight," the buxom blonde declared, lifting a fry and pointing at them to emphasize her point, "You two met yesterday, went out for coffee together, read over each other's shoulders, and spent hours talking. But that wasn't a date? No sexual spark, no surprise sudden kisses, passion filled snogs?! Not even hand holding?!"

The two friends shared a sheepish glance and a blush.

"Well, maybe a little hand holding..." Jaune confessed.

"Aha! Exccellent!" Yang's sister, Ruby, exclaimed, as she used her sister's sudden cheer to steal some of her fries, "You two will make such an adorable couple!"

Jaune and Pyrrha blushed in embarrassment, even as Yang pounced on the opening she had been given, " Come on, you two! You're telling me that when you look at each other you don't feel the spark? No desire to rip off each other's clothes and shag out all that wonderful tension until you are thoroughly sore and sated?"

Blake, who had looked up from her chemistry notes during her partner's rant, narrowed her eyes, "Someone's been reading my books again, I see."

The blonde stuck her tongue out at her best friend, "I regret nothing."

"Well I bet the babies would be adorable! Think of the children you two! Think of the children!" Nora cried, as she took a deep drink of her milkshake that Ren had finally delivered.

"Yes!" Yang caroled, "Think of the children!"

"I bet they would have the most adorable strawberry blonde hair," Weiss wondered aloud, as she finished reviewing Ruby's history essay.

Jaune laughed as he pointed to Nora who had finally finished her milkshake, and was now occupying herself by sitting on the edge of the table and braiding Ren's hair.

The young man merely sighed as he continued to eat his salad, ignoring Nora's antics with the ease of long practice.

"I don't need kids, anyway, guys. I could always adopt. And of course, there's always my first plan of getting Ren and Nora married off so that Uncle Jaune has adorable nieces and nephews to spoil!"

The shorter redhead of the group gave a startled "Eep!"at that, ducking down quickly to hide behind Ren as Jaune stared at her uterus like a cartoonish villain.

"Soon..." he proclaimed hammily, rubbing his hands together dramatically, "All according to the kekaiku..."

Unseen by Nora, Ren gave Jaune a thumbs-up, before returning to his salad and blissfully tuning out the world around him, even as Nora perched herself on his lap, and buried her head in his chest in an attempt to "hide" from the evil mastermind that was her friend.

The friends continued their lunch before rushing off to class.

Eventually, weeks turned into months which turned into years, and Jaune and Pyrrha were married in a small ceremony involving their family and friends.

Weiss and Ruby followed shortly after.

Blake and Yang not long after that.

And finally, Ren and Nora, ironically after a bit too much partying during Blake and Yang's wedding, woke up the next morning hung over and legally married.

The regretted nothing.

With her money, and connections, Weiss was able to make the adoption process a much smoother thing for all involved, meaning that she and Ruby, along with Blake and Yang, were able to adopt quickly and efficiently.

This gave Jaune and Pyrrha many children to spoil and babysit. It also gave Ren and Nora plenty of kids to practice with before they finally had their own a few years later.

Jaune and Pyrrha spoiled them all every chance they got.

All according to the kekaiku.

END

And now, an Omake! In honor of the fact that there is going to be a Detective Pikachu movie next year, with Pikachu being voiced by none other than Ryan Reynolds, I just had to do this! I present for your reading pleasure:

 **Pikapool**

"Pikachu, use Thunder!"

Pikachu takes a moment to stop and turn to look at his trainer before the battle can get underway.

Sighing, he trots over to Ash's backpack before doing something he had never done before, as far as Ash knew:

He went into his Pokeball.

Ash had just begun to realize that yes that in fact did just happen when suddenly Pikachu was out again; At least they thought it was Pikachu.

Ash's beloved friend had donned some sort of red and black spandex getup that would not look out of place in a superhero movie

And he also had a katana strapped to his back, and was that...a gun?!

Pikachu turned to face his opponent, a Pidgeot that glared down at him as if sizing him up as its next meal, and smiled, "Pika pi pika pik."

Translation: Time to make the chimichangas, bitch!

Without any prompting from his trainer, Pikachu used agility to get in close with his opponent, who immediately took to the sky. The mouse assassin channeled some electricity into his blade and tried to slash his opponent out of the air.

That was unsuccessful thanks the Pidgeot's use of agility to quickly put distance between them. Pikapool, however, would not be denied. While everyone in the audience and the human trainers were distracted by the fact that a pokemon was using a weapon, and the obvious impact this sentience would have on their way of life, that is when Pikachu struck.

Taking his gun from its holster, Pikachu taunted his opponent, "Pika Pik Pik PIKACHU!"

Translation: Yippe Kai Yae, Mother Fucker!

He fired.

The Pidgeot's head exploded in a wealth of gore and blood, and as the body fell to earth, the spandex suited Pokemon could not resist a parting quip, "Pikachu pika pik. Pika pik Chu."

Translation: Pikachu uses Head Shot. It's Super Effective.

While the once roaring crowd had gone deathly silent, the once adorable and innocent Poke-Mascot turned to face some far-off point away from the stadium and spoke as if to thin air: Pika pik pik pika chu..."

Translation: Bet you won't see that on Kids WB or 4Kids...

END

As usual, you can thank the folks in Discord for this! The omake is NaruHinaRyu's fault. Incidentally, if you enjoy Naruto stories, specifically Naruhina, give her story a look. It is "The Way to Your Heart: The Long Way Home." It's awesome. Go, enjoy it, review it…

And of course, anything Aetheling has written, but specifically "When a Plan Fails," one of the best RWBY and Arkos focused pieces I've had the pleasure of reading. Go, read it, love it, review it…

Until net time.


	18. Chapter 18

**Team Double Dates**

Prompt: "Pyrrha is on cloud 9, she just got Jaune to herself, and had a date with him last night that was just grand. And now, she has to fight to keep her squeals of happiness in check, because Jaune is plotting on his scroll with his family on how to make Pyrrha realize he is Her One, like she is His One. Looks like the coming winter break will be even grander than she thought, especially with what she hears about a family beach villa on the coast of Vacuo." –Lord Farsight

Response:

Pyrrha smiled happily as she made her way to breakfast. Last night had been absolutely magical, and she could not recall ever being so happy. The redhead gave a distracted wave to her friends as she sat in her usual seat at her usual table.

"Hey, P-Money! Where's your blonde boy toy?" Yang boisterously asked, as Nora tossed another grape into her mouth.

The mention of her partner brought Pyrrha out of her pleasant memories, "Oh, he's fine. His sisters texted him early this morning, so now he's busy with them. I'm going to bring him up some food when I leave."

"Awww, that's so sweet, Pyrrha! You should bring him cookies! Jaune loves cookies!" Ruby chimed in, relenting quickly and shrinking back form her partner's cold glare.

"Ruby! No trying to bend the rules on your cookie limit, missy! Your diet needs more than sugar!" Weiss chastised.

The red reaper pouted adorably, "Ja wol, Mien Furher." Ruby muttered petulantly.

"What was that?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Ahhh! Um, nothing, nothing at all!" Ruby chuckled nervously.

"That's what I thought." Weiss stated with a smirk, before resuming filing her nails.

Yang brought the subject back on track, "So, how was your first date last night? Must have been good if you're already acting like his wife, the blonde smirked, "Speaking of wifely duties, I noticed you weren't limping this morning, so the date wasn't that good, huh?"

Blake said nothing, but Pyrrha noticed the movement of her bow, and that her eyes were now visible over the top of her book. The Mistral Champion calmly finished a bite of her eggs before replying.

"Our date was absolutely grand. Jaune took me to a really fun gastropub that is famous for its burgers. I got to try a hamburger for the first time ever. It was glorious."

RWBY stared in amazement. "You've never had a burger before?!" Ruby exclaimed.

Pyrrha smiled sheepishly, "Not before last night, no."

Quick as a flash, Blake's hand was cover her partner's mouth to stop the obvious teasing this presented.

"Don't feel bad, Pyrrha, I've never had one either. Such food was never seen in the Schnee household. No one in the Food Room ever prepared such."

Ruby gave her partner a pitying look, "Here, have a cookie. You'll feel better."

Mystified at the offer, Weiss took the cookie, stuffing it into her mouth the way her partner did.

Once she swallowed, she took in the looks she was receiving from everyone, "What?!"

"You know you could just bite into the cookie, right?" Blake asked.

The heiress blushed lightly, "You mean that isn't the normal way people eat cookies?"

The others shook their heads, "No, just Ruby." Yang said.

Weiss blushed harder.

"Back to the date," Blake interjected, "What happened next?"

Pyrrha's face lit up in joy as she recalled the events, "Well after the meal, we strolled around the city for a while before we found a dance studio advertising swing dancing lessons for free that evening as a way to advertise. Jaune asked me if I wanted to try it because it's fun."

Pyrrha blushed lightly, the memory of their close, intimate contact filling her with warmth, "Jaune is an excellent dancer."

"Really? Who'd have thought?" Yang asked.

"After that, we were walking back to Beacon, when we passed a flower shop. We went inside to look around, and Jaune brought me a beautiful flower, just because he wanted to."

Pyrrha practically swooned as she said this.

The other girls noticed, leaning forward eagerly, "And then...?" Yang pressed.

"He asked me to be his girlfriend! And I said yes!" Pyrrha exclaimed happily.

The others cheered, offering congratulations and hugs.

Once everyone had finished their meals, Pyrrha bid them farewell, before grabbing a to-go container and getting her new boyfriend some breakfast. Just before she left, she heard Yang shout "Go get that Arc booty!"

Blake shot her a discreet thumbs-up around her book.

The champion blushed heavily and made a tactical retreat amidst the giggles of her friends.

Once she was back in her room, the champion quietly deposited her partner's breakfast on their shared nightstand, before sitting on his bed.

"Hey, Pyr," Jaune said with a grin as he sat up to eat his breakfast, wrapping an arm around his new girlfriend.

The redhead leaned into his touch, laying her head on his shoulder, "Good morning, Jaune!"

The blonde gave her a nervous grin after he finished his breakfast.

Pyrrha noticed immediately, "Jaune, what is it?"

JNPR's leader chuckled, "So, uh, my family has this summer villa in Vacuo. I was wondering if you would like to spend winter break there with me. I know we just became a couple, and I'll understand if you think this is too fast, and don't want to go-"

Pyrrha silenced him with a passionate kiss.

"I would love to, Jaune."

"Uh, wow, great! That's great!" Jaune said once his brain rebooted.

Pyrrha smiled at him serenely, all the while laughing maniacally on the inside. Two weeks alone with Jaune on the beaches of Vacuo was two weeks she would have victory over the Great Enemy: The snows brought on by a Valean winter.

Of course, she would also get the chance to model that bikini she had picked out a few weeks ago in preparation for summer. Hopefully, if everything went well, she would be able to follow Yang's advice and "Get that Arc Booty". If Pyrrha had her way, she wouldn't be walking straight for weeks!

Jaune was completely unaware of his girlfriend's thoughts to have her wicked way with him as he snuggled closer to her, kissing the top of her head, "By the way..." Jaune began.

"Hmm?"

"Have you seen Ren and Nora?"

Back in the cafeteria, the aforementioned duo was shambling to their usual seats.

Well, shambling wasn't quite accurate. Nora was walking with a noticeable limp, nearly bowlegged. Her eyes were sunken with lack of sleep, and her complexion was sallow with dehydration.

And she was wearing the widest, most satisfied grin any of Team RWBY had ever seen.

Ren by contrast seemed full of energy, pulling out his partner's chair with one hand, and balancing their breakfast trays with the other.

"What happened to you?" Blake finally asked, unable to contain her curiosity.

The others nodded fervently.

"Yeah," Ruby said, "Did you not sleep well?"

"Pancakes!" Nora muttered, mechanically slathering them in butter and syrup as she chewed each bite slowly, "Need carbs, need protein."

The others just stared dumbly at this odd turn of events.

For once, it was up to Ren to deliver the boisterous explanation, which he did, "Nora decided we should get a feel for each other's weapons last night. She was teaching me how to use Magnhild. I taught her how to open up Storm Flower."

Blake raised an eyebrow, her hentai senses tingling, "I know you like poetry Ren, so is this a metaphor, because it sounds almost like a euphemism."

Nora, who had recovered some electrolytes after downing a glass of orange juice in one gulp, gave clarification, "We Booped! We Booped intensely and often! We only finished a few hours ago. Since Jaune and Pyrrha are now a thing, we just had to celebrate! We can be Team Double Dates now!"

Ren nodded sagely after finishing a mouthful of pancake wrapped bacon, "We have indeed taken Booping to its logical conclusion. We are now officially dating. Jaune finally asking out Pyrrha yesterday was the push we needed to finally get together."

Weiss tried in vain to shield her orange juice from Nora's wandering hands, "You weren't drinking it! It's mine now! I need it!"

Weiss nodded dumbly, shrinking back to take shelter in her partner's cloak.

Ruby giggled, petting her head like she would Zwei.

Yang laughed boisterously, raising her glass of orange juice, "To Team Double Dates!"

Everyone followed suit, barring Weiss who raised an empty glass, "To Team Double Dates!"

END


	19. Chapter 19

**Prism Café**

Prompt: "RWBY and JNPR open a store. What do they sell, and who does what? Also, no couples at the start. I fully expect romance to happen." –Lord Farsight

Response:

Weiss sighed as she put down the last box of decorations for the cafe tables. Really, they had been moving stuff in for hours now, and even with eight people it was still quite the exhausting endeavor. The young woman seated herself in one of the recently moved in cafe chairs, letting out a groan of appreciation as she was finally able to sit down.

The reprieve was short lived, however, when Yang dropped a box on the table Weiss had seated herself in.

"Ah, ah, ah, Ice Queen! We still have to help Jaune and Ren move in the last of the small kitchen appliances! Then you can rest!"

Weiss was just about to abandon her high society upbringing to tell Yang exactly what she thought of that idea, when Nora and Pyrrha arrived, carrying a large mixer between them. "Up and at 'em girls!" Nora crowed, "The sooner we get this stuff moved in, the sooner Jaune and Ren can break in the new kitchen by cooking us dinner!"

"And desert!" Pyrrha reminded, thoughts of Jaune's sinfully delicious chocolate truffle cheese cake pushing the redhead onward.

"That too!" Nora nodded.

That seemed to do the trick, because Weiss groaned aloud before standing, reminding herself that she had a goal at the end of all this: Jaune Arc's blueberry tart.

It was then that one of the chefs in question stuck his head out of the kitchen doorway, "Bring the mixer back this way please, we've already cleared a space for it."

"Coming Ren~!" Nora caroled, moving as quickly as she could while balancing the heavy mixer between them.

Once the mixer was placed in the kitchen, Nora turned to her best friend, smiling, as she asked with all the subtlety of a rampaging lion, "What's for dinner, Ren?"

The young martial artist/chef sighed as he finished stocking the spice cabinet, "We aren't sure yet, Nora. We're still organizing everything."

The ginger haired young woman's lip visibly trembled, tears forming in her eyes, "B-but...my pancakes..."

"They'll have to wait, Nora. We should be done in a couple of hours, and then Jaune and I can get cooking."

The ginger giggled, tears forgotten in an instant, as she hugged her best friend, "Yay! Thanks Ren!"

Over by the prep table, Jaune was organizing the knives, pans, and other kitchen necessities. Pyrrha strode over, pacing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Almost finished, Jaune?"

The blonde looked up from his work, smiling at his best friend, "Hey, Pyr! Yeah, everything is mostly organized and the appliances are turned on. Now we just need to finish putting a lot of the small stuff up, and go shopping for some ingredients. It should only be a couple of hours. How's the rest of the moving going?"

The Mistral native did her very best not to pout at hearing that her cake would be further delayed, but still answer her friend, "Very well. Yang and Weiss have almost finished placing all the shelves, and decorations. Blake and Ruby are retrieving the rest of the stock now."

Jaune smiled, "Excellent, we should be ready to open on schedule!"

Several hours later, six young people were happily seated around a table, enjoying the fruits of their friends' labors.

Blake sighed contentedly as she pushed away her fully clean plate, nothing left of the excellent tuna steak she had enjoyed but garnish.

Yang belched loudly, sharing a high five with Nora, nothing left of the poor, defenseless steak she had inhaled.

Nora gave her belly a satisfied pat, her lust for pancakes now sated.

Ruby had managed to fall asleep in her chair, a picture of blissful food coma, after finishing her cheeseburger and fries.

There were two young women, however, that were on the edge of their seats.

Weiss and Pyrrha looked every bit like young kids on Winter Maiden's Day Morning, waiting for their parents let then open their presents.

As if summoned, Ren and Jaune chose that moment to exit the kitchen, each bearing a tray that they sat down in front of the young women.

Weiss stared at the exquisitely presented blueberry tart, devouring it with her eyes, as Ren placed it in front of her.

She dabbed at her lips with a napkin. Schnees did not drool!

She set into the tart with a will, devouring it as quickly as her ingrained society manners would allow.

Pyrrha Nikos was a very polite girl, but had no such society training to keep her from showing her appreciation.

She gave her best friend a radiant smile when he set the cake in front of her, "Thank you, Jaune."

"No problem, Pyr."

With that, the two men of the team went back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up.

The Mistral native took the first small bite of the wonderful cake she had been dreaming about all day.

She let out a moan that had Blake looking up to arch an eyebrow at her from across the table.

"I'll have what she's having!" Yang quipped.

Like lightning, the redhead's gaze turned toward her, her glare leaving no doubt what she would do to protect her dessert. Her hair seemed to be floating in a non-existent wind, she appeared to almost be surrounded by a strange black aura of power.

Yang quickly let out a yelp, bolting from her chair to crouch behind Blake's, peering fearfully over the table, "Blake, save me!"

"You brought this on yourself," the young Faunus woman returned, "You should know better than to bother Pyrrha during 'dessert time'."

The redhead gave a firm nod, certain her precious dessert was safe from another interloper, before resuming devouring it.

Ruby didn't even stir as all this was going on.

The next day, the eight friends sat around another table, finalizing their work plans for the grand opening next week.

Weiss tapped a pen on her pad of paper, humming in thought.

"Jaune and Ren are obviously our chefs. Nora, Yang , and Pyrrha can be our servers. Ruby will be the hostess that gets everyone seated..."

"I get to be cake?!" the young woman cried, "I'd always dreamed..."

"No, you dunce! You just take people to their table!"

"Oh..." the young woman looked away, pouting adorably.

Weiss sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "Blake, that leaves you to be the cashier taking money. I'll be the general manager of course, keeping things running smoothly."

Blake and Ren shared a look. This would only end in tears...

Nora gave an excited fist pump, "Woo! The Prism Cafe is ready for business!"

Everyone cheered.

They were going to make so much lien!

END


	20. Chapter 20

**Merry Maiden's Day**

Prompt: Pyrrha had never celebrated Maiden's Day, it was just another training day for her. Neither had Ren and Nora, though it was because they never had enough to celebrate it. Now, it falls on Jaune to teach them the meaning of the holiday, and maybe a few Maiden Miracles will happen along the road. But really Nora, mistletoe above the door? —Lord Farsight

Nora's eyes widened as she took a tentative sip of the steaming beverage that Jaune had handed out. She didn't want to risk burning her tongue, after all. As calmly as Noraly possible, she set the cup down by her feet before addressing her leader, "Jaune-y are you sure this is a drink we can only have on Maidens Day? Because it's amazing! It's like drinking pancakes!"

Jaune and Ren shared a look of horror over their cups as they thought of Nora now drinking sugar to go along with all those pancakes Ren made. Remnant would never recover!

Taking on his usual role of Nora Wrangler, Ren did his best to avert the catastrophe., "Sorry Nora, but I'm afraid not. Drinking hot cocoa made with Jaune's grandmother's secret recipe is part of what makes Maidens Day special. If you drink it every day, it wouldn't be special, would it? What if I made you your special birthday pancakes every day?"

Nora paused to think for a moment, unsure of how she would feel. On the one hand, Ren's special birthday pancakes were amazing. On the other hand, if she really got them every day, would they really be special anymore?

"You're right Renny! Birthday pancakes wouldn't be as awesome if I ate them all the time!" Nora giggled, before reaching over to tap her partner's nose. Since they were currently sharing a love seat, she didn't have to reach far.

Ren smiled at her before taking another sip of the delicious home-made Maidens Day delicacy, and lifting his glass slightly in Jaune's direction. The blonde did the same, so that they shared a toast of victory from across the room.

Crisis averted.

Even though they were sharing a couch instead of a love seat, you wouldn't be able to tell with how close Pyrrha and Jaune were sitting together. Their thighs brushed against each other when they moved.

Not that Pyrrha was doing much moving After her first sip of hot chocolate, she was staring off into space. She had barely blinked, simply staring ahead, eyes blank and unseeing.

Her thoughts were a jumble of emotions, as her mind began to conjure scenarios, each wilder than the last as she dealt with this new amazing discovery, _'Chocolate? As a drink?! Did Jaune read my diary?! Oh Oum, if he did read my diary, does he now about the dream where he teaches me how to bake, and then batter gets everywhere?!'_

Poor Pyrrha's thoughts were stuck in a spiraling descent into the gutter, from which there was seemingly no escape. At least until Jaune laid his hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle shake., "You still with us, Pyr?"

The redhead gave a slight start, before giving her partner a reassuring smile. Yes, I'm fine Jaune! Sorry, I was just lost in thought about how good this drink is! Cocoa, was it?"

Jaune rolled his eyes, bumping his shoulder with hers before turning to address the team as a whole, "I'm really glad you guys are enjoying Grammy Arc's cocoa recipe, but it's just about time for the main event of the evening, the gift exchange!"

"AW YISS!" Nora cheered, "I've been waiting for this! It's so awesome to have money to actually do something this year!" The Valkyrie gave an exuberant fist pump before rushing to her bed to retrieve her stash of gifts, unaware of the secret smile shared between Pyrrha and Jaune, who had secretly deposited some extra money from their last mission pay into Ren and Nora's accounts as part of their presents.

Ren of course knew, being the one to handle his and Nora's finances. He never said anything, but he was very grateful. He and Nora never had much growing up in the orphanage. Now they had a family, and people to share Maiden's Day presents with.

This would now always be Ren's favorite holiday, just because of Nora's infectious child-like joy.

Once everyone had their gifts, Jaune shepherded them into the dorm commons where they had room to spread out. There was also the benefit of a fire place for the next tradition on his list, lighting the Yule Log.

Once JNPR was seated comfortably on the plush carpet, Jaune retrieved a book of matches and set about lighting the Yule Log. Once it was blazing away, warming the room and helping create a cheery atmosphere, Jaune turned back to his team.

Nora raised her hand like they were in class, waving it to get Jaune's attention, "Fearless Leader, why are we setting this log on fire again? What does it mean?"

Jaune smiled, "Well it's supposed to bring luck in the new year once it burns out completely. Oh, and you can even make a wish on it too."

Nora clapped her hands excitedly, like a child on a sugar high, before making a production of waving her hands about, "Oh, oh, oh! I wanna make a wish! I want all the pancakes!"

Jaune laughed, sharing a look of fond exasperation with Pyrrha, "Of course, Nora. You might want to try for something simpler though. If you eat all the pancakes now, there won't be any more later."

The hammer wielder look horror stricken by the very thought, before loudly declaring "I'll wish for something else! I'll wish for something else!"

Jaune laughed before using his scroll to put on some traditional Maidens Day music, in this case it was Sting Crosby's "White Maiden's Day."

With the atmosphere properly set, Jaune turned to his team, and began to divide the presents to each person. Once they were sorted, they all to open them. Nora tore into hers with a will, receiving a pair of tickets from Ren to visit the new sloth exhibit at the natural museum. Pyrrha gave her some finely crafted training weights.

Ren received a blend of exotic teas from his partner. He was ecstatic. Pyrrha gave him a few new tools to care for Stormflower.

Pyrrha received some high-grade polish for her equipment from Ren and Nora. She was glad because she was nearly out.

Soon they all turned to Jaune, who urged them to open his gifts. NPR was left gasping in shock when they tore the paper away to reveal footie pajamas just like his, each with their favorite color.

Their vacant unbelieving stares made it all worthwhile.

"Oh man! You guys should see you faces! Granted, you'll need these pajamas when winter gets here in full force. Winters in Vale are nothing like Mistral."

As if punctuating his point, a cold breeze swept through the room, and JNPR realized that one of the windows had been left slightly open. Pyrrha got up to shut it quickly, eager to banish the Great Enemy.

Jaune gave them another smirk, "Now check the pockets, guys!"

They did, each coming away with a small gift stuffed in the pocket.

Nora was going to be enjoying her new powdered Shock Dust to put in her experimental grenades.

Ren was happy to receive a jar of raw, organic honey; the perfect complement to his new batch of teas.

Pyrrha was the most ecstatic of all. She had a set of handmade coupons in her new pajamas for homemade baked goods from Jaune. This was grand! If she played her cards right, she may be able to make that one diary entry a reality…

Pyrrha was so excited, she rushed to hug her partner to express her thanks. It was going well, until she knocked Jaune over in her excitement, accidentally elbowing him in a very sensitive area.

It was super effective.

Pyrrha led him back to the dorm so they could create an ice pack, apologizing all the way.

Nora began to giggle maniacally when they disappeared, before rushing up to the door, and hanging something small and green on the top of it. She gave a mischievous smirk as she finished adjusting the object. Jaune may have had to explain a lot of ways families celebrated Maiden's Day on Winter Solstice, but there was one tradition Nora would need no help understanding.

When Jaune and Pyrrha returned a few minutes later, Jaune was not even limping. Aura was a great thing, at least until he noticed the hesitant look in his partner's face. He glanced up discreetly, and was rewarded with the shocking sight of mistletoe.

This was one Maiden's Day tradition, Jaune had hoped to avoid. Judging by the mischievous smirk on Nora's face, and the way Ren was not at them, he knew they had something to do with it. He didn't see a way this could end well for him.

"Mistletoe, Nora?! Really!?"

The Valkyrie just giggled.

Jaune turned back to his partner, face flush, and nervous, "Sorry about this. We...we don't have to if you don't want to, Pyrrha. Not all traditions have to be followed for Maiden's Day."

Pyrrha gave him as reassuring a smile as she could, "It's okay, Jaune. I want to."

With that, she steeled her nerves, and leaned it, gently pressing her lips to her partner's.

They were both clumsy at first, and uncertain, but they quickly established a rhythm, gaining confidence the longer they kissed, until they eventually broke apart for air, faces flushed and smiling.

Nora turned to the fireplace, seeing the Yule Log which was now almost burned to cinders, and her eyes went wide. She turned to her partner to joyously proclaim "Renny! It's a Maidens Day Miracle! The Yule Log works!"

END

Happy Holidays, everyone!


	21. Chapter 21

**Stamina Training**

Prompt: "When Pyrrha blushingly added "stamina training" to the program, Jaune hadn't said anything, but now they've been working on their stamina for two months, and the Dance is approaching ..." –Lord Farsight

Response:

Jaune ran the towel over his hair, once again thankful for Beacon's amazing water pressure. It really helped relax the muscles after an intense workout. And by Oum was this intense. Jaune had though the weight training was tough when they first started. However, he had quickly gotten used to the demanding pace. When Pyrrha added Yoga training, to help keep them limber and flexible, JNPR's leader had welcomed it.

Stamina training, however, was a completely different matter. Jaune knew he lacked muscle tone, that's what the weight training was for. But if there was one thing Jaune had thought he could be proud of, it was his stamina. He was an interkingdom dancing champion, after all.

Turns out, he had a lot to learn. Pyrrha had him doing everything from squats, shuttle runs, and scissor kicks to six different kind of burpie combinations! Six!

Luckily, the Beacon Dance was soon approaching. After two months of brutal training, Jaune was finally ready to show the results of all his hard work. He was going to show everyone, and especially his partner that all his training had paid off. And he was going to do it where it really counted: The dance floor.

Of course, to do this properly, he needed a partner. Luckily, Beacon had seen fit to already provide him the best one, and all it had taken was being hurtled off a cliff into a forest of deadly Grimm. _'A small price to pay for having the perfect partner,'_ Jaune thought as he finished getting dressed.

Now he just had to hope that none of the other guys had also wised up and realized how amazing she was, or his plan was over before it began! Jaune made sure to brush his teeth twice, and gargled with mouthwash for a full minute before finally leaving the bathroom. He had even forgone his onesie pajamas, instead opting for one of his old t-shirts, and a pair of sweatpants. Thus, armored up for battle, the knight strode forth from the bathroom with purpose, and proceeded to sit on his bed to wait.

Apparently, Pyrrha wasn't out of the bathroom yet.

He didn't have to wait long though, as the door to the girls' bathroom swung open, revealing Nora with toothpaste foam around her mouth, and a giggling Pyrrha brandishing a washcloth. "Nora, if you don't wipe off that tooth paste, you'll get it on your pillow!"

"Never! I'm a wild animal! I cannot be tamed! Look upon my froth covered cheeks and despair!"

Ren calmly took the washcloth from Pyrrha, and approached his partner, who was in the process of making faces at herself in the mirror and giggling. "Okay, time to cure the rabid beowolf."

Nora turned toward him, blushing at how close he was. She gave another nervous giggle as Ren gently wiped the corners of her mouth. When he was done, he gave her a gentle smile, "There, all cured."

Ren's hand seemed to linger at her cheek, wiping it again, even though the toothpaste was already gone. Nora blushed hotly before giggling, "Thanks for saving me, Ren!"

The ninja of Team JNPR gave her another smile, finally removing his hand from her cheek, "Any time."

While Team Sloth was being their usual selves, Jaune finally had the chance to talk to Pyrrha, and enact his master plan.

"So, Pyr, I had a question..."

The Mistral champion turned to him, smiling brightly as she combed her hair, "Yes, June?"

The blonde gulped, suddenly now even more aware of how amazing Pyrrha looked wearing her silk camisole pajamas. The fabric clung to her in ways that were proving to be...distracting.

Jaune sent off another silent prayer to Oum that he was not too late.

"So, Pyrrha, the Dance is coming up, and I thought it would be a great way to show off the results of all our training."

Pyrrha graced him with a smile, but Jaune noticed that it didn't quite reach her eyes. There was some emotion there that he couldn't place. He wasn't sure what it was, but it he didn't like it.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Jaune! A very creative use of training. I had no idea you were a dancer."

The blonde gave a sheepish grin, "Well when you grow up with seven sisters, these sorts of things tend to happen. Anyway, I was bringing it up because in order to do many of these dances properly, I need a partner..."

Pyrrha could hardly believe her ears, was this really happening? Surely, she must have misheard, her heart was beating loud enough for it. She could feel the blood pumping in her veins, and for once it had nothing to do with a tournament match. Instead it had everything to do with the fact that her partner's training was paying off noticeably. At the beginning of the year, that shirt hung loosely on his frame. Now it looked almost painted on.

Pyrrha had to call upon her prodigious self control to avoid drooling. There's no way Jaune was trying to ask her out, she was certain he was likely swamped with offers from many vapid, shallow little tarts that saw only his chiseled abs and gorgeous eyes.

There was the drool again. _'Focus, Nikos!'_

Pyrrha brought herself back to reality in time to hear her partner ask, "So would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Dance so that we may show off our awesome dancing skills?"

Pyrrha resisted the urge to pinch herself, but only just. Though she could hardly believe her ears, she still had the presence of mind to rapidly nod to her partner's request.

Jaune smiled at her, a mix of relief and happiness.

Behind them, Nora let out a high pitched squeal, before furiously hugging them both, "Ren! Let's go together as partners, that way we can have an awesome team dance, and show everyone just how awesome JNPR is!"

The two young men of JNPR glanced at each other, giving a nod. How could they resist the urge showcase their amazing skills?

And so Team JNPR attended the Beacon Dance where they kept their promise, dominating the dance floor with a completely spontaneous dance routine.

Later, during the couples dances, all the twists, dips, turns, and grasping took on a very intimate turn as the two couples continued to press against their partners to the rhythm of the music.

Luckily for all the other couples that night, this brought many repressed feelings to a head, leaving the two couples to depart the dance early for more private venues.

This led to an entirely new way to test their endurance, one that was very satisfying and fun for all.

END


	22. Chapter 22

**The Magic of Baking**

Prompt: Pyrrha is a rising star among the local Mage Guild, a young genius that is already a confirmed Mage despite being the age of most Aspirants. This greatly displeases her self-appointed rival, Cinder Fall. So, she manipulates events to have the worst aspirant this Guild has ever seen assigned to Pyrrha. There is no way having Jaune Arc as a student could ever benefit Pyrrha, right?" –Lord Farsight

Response:

Cinder Fall smiled triumphantly as she rearranged the stack of forms in front of her. A little "creative filing" later, and it was now certain that her rival, Pyrrha, would be saddled with the worst Mage Aspirant that the College of Beacon had seen in decades! Truly, bureaucracy was its own magic! The best part? Taking on an Apprentice and having them give a successful, public demonstration of their skills was required for a Novice to reach full Mage status. The plan was perfect. It could not fail!

Cinder just barely resisted the urge to cackle maniacally as she stealthily left the office of Deputy Headmistress Goodwitch. She was so looking forward to basking in Pyrrha's failure. Now she just needed to help her own apprentice master her illusion skills, and things would be perfect.

The next day, all the prospective Mages that had to yet to take on an Apprentice gathered in the main hall to meet their assigned pupils.

The prospective students were gathered in a large clump, the plain yellow robes denoting their status creating a bright wall of color in the otherwise drab stone entryway.

Pyrrha Nikos, the youngest Mage in the history of the Academy, stood tall and welcoming, a friendly smile on her face as she surveyed all the prospective students. Her bright red robes, a perfect match to her flowing hair, hung perfectly on her athletic frame, giving her an almost regal bearing.

Honestly, she was rather excited, had hardly slept the night before in fact. because she had been looking forward to this day for weeks now. Yes, proving she had the ability to teach others was the final step to earning her Mastery and becoming an Archmage of the College, but that wasn't the reason for the excitement. She eagerly awaited having an Apprentice. Someone to teach, to delve into the mysteries of Magic with. She wanted to have someone to debate theory with, to teach new spells, to make new and exciting discoveries with.

In short, Pyrrha Nikos longed for companionship.

Perhaps that was why her eyes strayed to the lone Aspirant, standing away from the others, posture slouched as if to make himself less visible. The young man's head was bowed, so she couldn't see his face, but the way his head was turned slightly away from everyone else, and the tightness of his clenched hands spoke of his nervousness.

Pyrrha hid her mirthful smile behind her hand when she realized the young man's blonde hair, the color of newly grown wheat, perfectly matched the color of his robe _. 'I'm not the only one with that issue, it seems'_

Her smile became a frown of concern when she noticed one of the larger Aspirants, a broad-shouldered male with an arrogant sneer and short dark hair, say something to the blonde. She had no idea what it was, over the din of the many conversations in the hall, but it clearly wasn't a compliment because the blonde flinched away, and seemed to become even more nervous. He raised his head for the first time, glancing furtively around the room.

Pyrrha's breath nearly caught in her throat when she caught sight of his eyes. They were a startlingly bright shade of blue, like the sky on a beautiful summer day. Together with his blonde hair, they complimented what Pyrrha thought of as a rather handsome face. If only he didn't look so worried. When his eyes met hers, Pyrrha's welcoming smile became a little brighter, hoping to set him at ease.

She was surprised when his gaze met hers, head tilted slightly as he observed her, like a quizzical puppy. His eyes were filled with curiosity and a bit of wonder, as if he did not expect her to be smiling at him. He confirmed this when he quickly glanced behind him, checking for other people. When he turned back around, gesturing toward himself, Pyrrha smiled wider, giggling a little as she gave a cheerful wave.

The boy gave his own wave back, accompanied by a small, less nervous smile.

For the first time in a long time, Pyrrha felt the warmth of hope blossom in her chest.

 **XXX**

Jaune Arc was incredibly nervous. This was it. He was here, at Beacon College, about to become an Apprentice, the first step on the road of his dream of being a great Mage. As the first-born son of the Arc family, and also the youngest child, he had a lot to live up to. His sisters, all seven of them, had attended Beacon. They were considered some of the greatest Conjurers, Battle Mages, and Illusionists to walk the halls of Beacon College. His oldest sister, Flava, was even gifted in Alteration magics, and had apprenticed under Headmaster Ozpin himself!

In short, Jaune's siblings had blazed a fantastic trail through the halls of Beacon College; one that he was trying desperately to live up to.

So far, he wasn't off to the greatest start. He stood alone, away from the crowd, trying not to let his nervousness show. He knew he was failing. The excited murmuring of the other Aspirants did not help this. It only drove home his social isolation even more. Granted that was partly his own fault. He was so nervous that he could hardly focus on approaching random people to start a conversation.

"Hey, Jauney! Try not to blow yourself up with your first fireball spell! Who knows, maybe you'll be really good at illusions. That'll help hide your hideous face, maybe then you'll have a chance with some drunk bimbo, too stupid to realize what she's getting!"

Jaune immediately flinched away. And then, there was that. Not everyone here was a complete stranger. In fact, several of the students here had attended the same preparatory school as him. Unfortunately, that just made it worse. Cardin was a great example. He was from the rather prestigious Winchester family, a clan known for producing excellent Elemental Mages.

Cardin had been his tormentor from day one. He and his group of friends knew they were the biggest, strongest, and some of the most influential kids in the school. They ran it with fervor, relishing in the power, and pain they wielded over others. Jaune was one of their favorite targets; they went out of their way to treat him "special". The only kids that got it as bad as him were the Faunus students. Cardin and his friends had a special hatred for all things different, especially Faunus.

The Arc scion decided to look anywhere but at Cardin, hoping that his usual tactic of avoidance and making himself look smaller would get Cardin to leave him alone. It seemed to work, because the boy turned away from him, whispering something to his friend Sky as he gestured to one of the Mages.

Out of curiosity, Jaune began to glance around furtively, studying his environment, and the Mages at the front of the room.

The building was old, drab, plain stone, and rather dim. Though Jaune supposed it was unfair to judge a place entirely on its entrance hall. His sisters had always spoken so highly of Beacon, after all. Many of the mages were gazing at the group of students impassively, as if silently judging them.

Jaune could feel the weight of their stare, it was not doing anything to help his nerves.

He looked toward the Mage that Cardin and Sky were whispering about, and his breath nearly caught in his throat. She had sun-kissed skin, the golden color of those native to more eastern Kingdoms, likely Mistral. Her eyes were the bright, vivid green of freshly cut grass, and her hair was set in a functional ponytail, displaying the delicate slope of her neck. Jaune noticed with detached amusement that her hair perfectly matched the shade of her red Mage robe, 'At least I'm not the only one with that issue,' the blonde cheerfully thought.

She stood apart from the other Mages, as if they were unwilling to engage her in conversation, like she was something to be admired, and that was all. This woman was the pinnacle of feminine beauty as far as the Arc scion was concerned, but what really held his attention was the cheerful, welcoming smile she graced him with when their eyes met. Clearly, she wasn't smiling at him, right? Maybe there was someone else behind him? There was no way the most gorgeous woman Jaune had ever seen was smiling at him of all people! He was Jaune Arc, the guy that could only cast the most basic of spells.

He glanced around himself quickly, and when he realized there was really no one else around him, gestured back to himself in wonder. The young woman's answering smile was even brighter.

Wonder of wonders, she was smiling at him!

Jaune did the only thing appropriate in this situation, giving his own nervous smile back, accompanied with a wave when she waved to him.

For the first time that day, Jaune felt the stirrings of something that overcame his almost all-consuming nervousness: Hope.

The moment was shattered by the loud echo of the heavy, oak, doors as they opened, revealing an attractive, if stern woman with glasses and blonde hair set in a severe braid. Her ornate, white robe flared behind her She was followed by a silver haired man dressed in a forest green robe, walking with a cane in one hand, and a mug in the other. They were instantly recognizable as Glynda Goodwitch, the Deputy Headmistress, and Headmaster Ozpin himself.

"Greetings, Aspirant Mages," Headmaster Ozpin stated as he took a sip from his mug, "Welcome to Beacon College of Arcane Mysteries. It is here you will study the depths of mystical knowledge. You will learn to harness the power of the energy within you to weave illusions to snare the mind, wield the very elements themselves, subvert the very fabric of reality to your will, or even conjure things from thin air."

"When you are through with your studies here, you will have the skills necessary to succeed in any venture you choose, whether that is using your talents on the battlefield, defending the Kingdom, saving lives as a Healer, or even plumbing the depths of magic, and studying its mysteries. Whatever you choose, know that our gifted Mages will help you on the path to your destiny. That is all."

With that, the Headmaster stepped away, taking another slow sip from his mug, as the severe looking Headmistress Goodwitch stepped forward.

She punctuated her seriousness with a frosty glare that swept the room, "When your name is called, you will step forward, where your Mage Teacher will meet you. They will be your instructor, guiding you on your journey to master the mysteries of Magic. Their word is law, and they are to be obeyed without question. Magic is not a toy. You wield within yourselves the ability to do phenomenal good as well as catastrophic harm with but the smallest mistake. Do not take this lightly."

Once she was satisfied that the now much paler Aspirants were now thoroughly aware of the dangers they faced, she stepped back with a nod, and retrieved a notepad which she began to read from. Slowly the students came forward to be led away by a red robed Mage, their master for the next four years.

Jaune gave an audible gulp, his pulse pounding more with each name called. It was all beginning to blend together, Goodwitch's voice became a droning tone in the background as Jaune tried to get his breathing under control. What if he wasn't picked? What if he was, and his assigned Mage hated him? What if he really had no magic at all?

This was irrational of course, since one of the main criteria for entrance into Beacon was having magic, but fear is rarely logical. Jaune began to sweat a bit, breathing labored as he was consumed in his worry. In fact, he was so disconnected from his surroundings, that he evidently missed his name being called if the Deputy Headmistress' shouting his name was anything to go by. He was startled back to reality by his shoulder being shaken.

He looked up into the same green eyes he had admired earlier, now so much more striking up close, and a reassuring smile that calmed him almost instantly. Really, it could be considered a magic all on its own. She gave his hand a gentle reassuring squeeze, "Hello again!" she said.

 **XXX**

Pyrrha was worried. The Deputy Headmistress had been calling the name of her applicant repeatedly for several seconds now. She glanced around furtively, winding a strand of her hair around her fingers. Were they intimidated by her? Did they decide she was simply too "awesome" and "powerful" for them to be worth her time? Was it because she was too tall? She had heard that could intimidate people, especially men.

She glanced at the young man that had intrigued her earlier, startled to see that he had become even more nervous. He seemed to be working himself into a panic. The tall muscular boy, and his friends were pointing and jeering him as the blonde stood there growing pale with worry. Just as she resolved to step forward and do something to call him, she noticed Goodwitch staring at her. When she turned to meet the woman's gaze she gestured sharply to the young man, indicating that he was now her student.

Pyrrha could hardly believe her luck! The very boy that had sparked her interest, that didn't look at her in awe, or fear, or star struck wonder was going to be her student! Granted, she was a bit nervous about the whole thing considering that they were the same age, but she was certainly more excited. She would finally have someone to share her wonder and passion about the magical arts with! She may even make her first friend!

She strode forward confidently, cheerful smile in place as she laid a gentle hand on the blonde's shoulder. That was enough to get his attention, because he looked up at her sharply. His eyes were an even more vivid blue from this close, the clear blue of a cloudless sky in spring. Her nerves began to overwhelm her, throat suddenly dry at being this close to someone, especially a young man that she thought was very handsome.

Pyrrha mustered her courage, noting that the young man had calmed down at her touch. That was certainly a positive start. With a bright smile, she greeted her new student, "Hello again!"

Jaune gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck "Uh, hi. I'm guessing from all the quiet that I missed my name being called? Sorry about that."

The beautiful redhead gave him another soft smile, "It's quite all right. You seemed rather nervous earlier. I thought it would be best if I made my way to you to help speed things along."

Jaune gave a relieved chuckle, glad his new teacher wasn't angry with him, "Thanks. Is the Deputy Headmistress angry with me?"

The two turned slightly, to catch Goodwitch's expression out of the corner of their eye. They both shuddered. Even without looking at it directly, the woman's glacial glare seemed to freeze their souls.

Pyrrha turned back to her student, gesturing to the small alcove that would lead them discreetly into Beacon proper and the next chapter of the next four years of their lives, "Shall we go, my Apprentice?" Pyrrha asked, hoping her nerves weren't present in her tone.

Jaune gave his own answering smile, praying to Oum that his voice didn't crack in nervousness, answering as confidently as he could, "Lead the way, Master."

Smiling matching grins of nervous optimism, the two young teens ventured into the next chapter of their lives, studying magic at Beacon College.

 **XXX**

Jaune gave another tired sigh, as he stared at the potted sunflower on the floor. More specifically, the rain cloud he was trying to conjure to water that sunflower. The cloud that simply was not there. It was very frustrating. He had no problem doing this on a larger scale. Heck he had called up rain to water an entire field of sunflowers that afternoon! However, this kind of small scale elemental manipulation seemed to be beyond him.

Pyrrha gave his arm another encouraging squeeze, "It's fine, Jaune. You'll get it eventually."

The blonde gave her an uneasy smile, frustrated by his lack of progress. If Pyrrha, who was apparently so talented she was almost qualified to be an Archmage already, couldn't teach him, what hope did he have? He was terrible with illusions, lacked fine control with elemental magic, his conjuring was nothing to get excited over, and as for his alteration abilities? HA!

Jaune gave another dejected laugh, dragging his hands through his hair in frustration. It had been six months into their apprenticeship, and while the two had certainly learned a lot about each other, and the theoretical aspects of magic, Jaune's practical skills had shown little improvement. He would have already packed up and went home, if he thought he could stand the pitying looks of his family.

Pyrrha could sense her Apprentice's anxiety, and decided to try a different track. He would never get anywhere if he was emotionally crippled by his own self-doubt. Emotions were the fuel of magic, after all.

"Jaune, let's try something else. Why don't we take a break from magic for a bit? What's something that doesn't involve magic that you enjoy?"

The Arc scion thought for a moment. Oddly enough, one of the things he missed most was cooking. The joy and laughter of his family as he cooked a large meal was part of some of his fondest memories. He missed baking. The phrase "baked with love" perfectly described the blonde's approach to baking. To Jaune, there was no greater feeling than the accomplishment of a perfectly done cake. Or pastry. Really, any baked good. Just knowing his baking skills had the power to lift someone's mood from the depths of despair to unbridled joy filled him with a sense of accomplishment, and power that nothing else did.

So, taking Pyrrha's words to heart, Jaune led them to the kitchen, where Pyrrha sat calmly in a chair, observing her apprentice.

Without considering the cabinet, he was opening, Jaune grabbed a large bowl, and whisk. He went to the refrigerator, and again, without looking retrieved everything he would need to make a fine dough. Like a Maestro directing an orchestra, Jaune began to pour, measure, roll, and proof the dough for whatever he was making.

Pyrrha watched in amazement. Unlike her Apprentice, Pyrrha was paying attention to what was in the cabinets, and could clearly see that there was no bowl or whisk in the cabinet. Was he conjuring them?

That was an interesting use of conjuration, but certainly not unheard of. Conjuring simple tools like that for larger projects was fairly easy. Even something such as transmuting water into milk, or meat into eggs was well within the boundaries of magic. However, the one thing that was considered impossible by all scholars that studied magic, was that food was impervious to magic. To be specific, baked goods were considered impervious to magic.

This was especially so with anything regarding chocolate. Baked goods could not be conjured, altered, were unaffected by the elements, and illusions did not work on people eating them. Truly, it was one of magic's greatest mysteries. So, when her Apprentice apparently dissatisfied with the lack of chocolate in the kitchen, retrieved a pot filed with fresh earth, and planted a seed in it, Pyrrha was understandably confused.

That confusion turned to awe when she watched him plant a cocoa bean that he procured from somewhere, and planted it in the pot.

She sat slack-jawed, and wide-eyed as she witnessed this seed grow into a fully mature cocoa plant in a matter of moments. Truly, Pyrrha Nikos was witnessing the impossible. Jaune then took the cocoa beans from the pods, and carefully mashed them together into a fine powder. Pyrrha could already smell the bitter scent of raw dark chocolate. It was a heady thing. She swallowed audibly, hoping to keep her drool reflex under control.

Sure, she was considered the youngest Mage in the history of Beacon, with a mastery of elemental magic that was second to none, but that meant nothing in the presence of her one weakness.

Baked goods. Especially chocolate.

As she watched Jaune roll out the dough into thin sheets, layer them with chocolate, and repeat, she was very much weakened. A cute Apprentice that was her best friend, and he could bake? If she didn't know any better, she would think Oum himself had come down from on high, and read her diary, or something.

After an eternity, that was really only half an hour of baking, plus time to cool, Jaune presented Pyrrha with one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen: Chocolate filled croissants. Still fighting valiantly to control her drool reflex, Pyrrha shakily took a croissant from the plate, giving her Apprentice a grateful smile.

When she first bit into the pastry, the first thing she noticed was the perfectly done, flaky buttery texture of the croissant itself. It was light and flavorful. The next thing that she noted was the rich, sweet taste of the chocolate. The smooth, creamy texture of the chocolate filling served as the perfect balance to the light, savory texture of the croissant.

And then the feelings came.

All at once it was as if she was surrounded by the warmth and security of her family talking and laughing as if they had not a care in the world. She felt a joy, and excitement that was somehow both familiar and alien in this context., considering that she didn't have any siblings.

The second was better and worse. Better in the sense of taste, and texture than the previous, but the feelings it evoked were all-together different.

Pyrrha was grateful she was sitting down when the sensation started. It began like a gentle caress of fingertips on her skin, the soft kiss of warm breath ghosting across her body. It began to build in intensity, becoming a fluttering, tingling feeling that seemed to pool in her belly before spreading to the rest of her body. Her back arched, her toes curled, and her hands grabbed the chair in a death grip as a feeling of bliss unlike anything she had ever experienced suddenly came crashing down on her in waves.

She could not help herself, as her breathing was reduced to quick, pants for air, Pyrrha began to vocalize her euphoria.

What started as a throaty purr, quickly changed to adorable squeaks, and evolved into something else...

"Hm~! Ah~! Yes~! Ahhnn~!"

When it finally reached a crescendo, leaving the young Mage a gasping, sweating puddle of relaxed muscles, she finally came back to reality to see her Apprentice holding a cup of water, and several orange slices to her lips as he gazed at her worriedly.

"Wha' Happen'd?" Pyrrha asked, her speech momentarily failing her.

"You passed out on me Pyr. I've seen some intense reactions, especially around my family at Dustmas time, but I have never known someone to react that way to my baking. It was...intense."

Pyrrha managed a wan smile as she took a slow sip of water, touched by her Apprentice's care and concern in a way that transcended the feelings she had been getting form the chocolate. The way Jaune gazed at her as he brushed sweat matted hair from her face, and fed her orange slices did more to make her feel safe, beautiful, and desired. She felt truly recognized as a woman for the first time ever, and that filled her with a pleasant warmth.

When she fully recovered, she began to solve this new mystery of magic.

"Jaune, why did you choose baking when I asked you what you wanted to do?"

The blonde gave her a sheepish smile, "It's what I'm used to doing when I get stressed. I was feeling a little home sick at first, so I was trying to do something familiar in order to deal with that."

Pyrrha smiled, the logic was sound, "Was that the primary thing you focused on when you made the cocoa plant grow up?"

"No, I was focusing on my family, plus I know you like chocolate, and wanted to do something nice for you for putting up with me."

The blonde blushed a deep crimson as he glanced away from his Master, "Though, I wasn't expecting a reaction quite like that..."

Pyrrha's face matched her hair. She certainly hadn't anticipated such a reaction, either, but she still met her Apprentice's gaze.

"Jaune, you just took a plant from seed to fully mature in a matter of moments. What's more, you even somehow imparted a sort of empathic link with your pastries. You literally baked your feelings into the pastry, which is something that should be impossible."

The blonde gave a nervous chuckle, "I'm honestly not sure what I did Pyrrha. I just remember focusing on different stuff while I was baking. First my family, and then...you."

Pyrrha blushed prettily, giving her Apprentice a coy, hopeful grin, "Oh? What about me? It could be vital to figuring out this mystery."

Jaune took a deep, fortifying breath before meeting his Master's gaze, _'Time to man up, Arc'_ he thought to himself, ' _Tell her how you feel'_

"Well, I was thinking about how I wanted to do something nice for you. I wanted to show my appreciation for being my master. I wanted to make you happy, wanted you to know how beautiful you were..." Jaune trailed off in nervousness, staring into the beautiful eyes of his Master.

"Well, you're pretty handsome yourself," Pyrrha stated shyly, giving him another hopeful smile before looking away.

Jaune couldn't stand it anymore. It was all or nothing time. Slowly, he leaned forward, Pyrrha's breath tickling his face.

Pyrrha's eyes became half-lidded as she closed the last bit of distance between them, noses almost touching.

They kissed.

It was awkward, yet exciting. Clumsy and perfect. A strange dichotomy that seemed to fit them perfectly.

When the new couple finally broke apart, for there was no doubt that they were together-together now, they sported matching sappy grins.

"Well that's one mystery solved," Pyrrha stated, "How about we solve another? What gave you the idea to grow a cocoa bean plant? How did you even manage it?"

Jaune gave her another sheepish laugh, "I'm not sure how I did it, I remember just wanting it to grow, applying a bit of magic to the earth, and then the plant sprouted."

"That should be impossible though, " Pyrrha stated firmly "Baked goods are impervious to magic. Especially chocolate."

Jaune just shrugged, "We'll figure it out, Pyr."

The redhead gave her newly minted boyfriend another hopeful smile, "I certainly hope so, if we can replicate this effect on a larger scale with other plants, we could potentially end world hunger."

Jaune's countenance firmed into determination. eager to do something to help people, "Let's get to work."

 **XXX**

When the day of the Exhibition finally arrived, Cinder Fall was ecstatic. She had arranged for Pyrrha's pathetic Apprentice against an especially large, muscular boy named Cardin. This would be a slaughter.

When Cinder's Apprentice, Emerald, performed a masterful bit of illusion magic that demonstrated the capabilities of Cinder as a teacher, she was finally given the full title of Archmage.

She could not resist the chance to send a cruel smirk her rival's way. Soon, Pyrrha would taste total defeat. It would be glorious.

So, words could not properly describe her surprise when she noticed how confident and relaxed the two seemed. They also seemed strangely intimate, sharing light touches and smiles throughout the day. She, along with the rest of those gathered to watch the matches were flabbergasted when Jaune strode forward confidently to face his former bully.

The blonde gave Cardin a smirk as he reached behind his back, pulling out an absolutely huge eclair, "Behold," Jaune cried, Pastry Mors! No one expects the Eclair Inquisition!"

Cardin gave the blonde another dark smirk, "Get ready to run home crying to your boyfriend, Jauney!"

The blonde just smirked, holding the reinforced eclair like a broad sword.

The muscular bully launched a variety of devastating elemental attacks using all the elements. Jaune merely braced himself, using his eclair blade to redirect the attacks, each strike adding a bit more energy to his baked broadsword.

When Cardin finally paused for breath, sweat dripping down his face as he scowled in exhaustion, Jaune struck.

Jaune swung his weapon in an economical slash, absorbed elemental energy unleashed in a concentrated pressurized wave.

Cardin's eyes widened in shock, and he had just enough time to try bringing his weapon up to defend himself.

It did no good.

The boy was bowled over, collapsing in defeat as Jaune lowered his blade, glancing at the judges for approval.

The main judge, Headmaster Ozpin, smiled down at Jaune kindly as he declared, "It is with great pleasure that I award Jaune Arc the title of Journeyman Caster, and confer upon Pyrrha Nikos the official title of Youngest Archmage in Beacon's history. Congratulations."

Before Jaune could even express his gratitude toward the Headmaster, Pyrrha was there, giggling and wrapping herself around him in a fierce hug. Jaune smiled, lifting her by the waist, and spinning her as they laughed joyously.

Unseen by either young teen, Cardin limped away, the picture of exhaustion, and face absolutely covered in cream filling from being struck by Pastry Mors. He could already hear the jeering laughter of the other students. Cardin would have a great many interesting nick names from this day forward.

Pyrrha, however, did take note of the seething face of Cinder as she glared at them as though she wanted to burn them to ashes. When the woman's gaze became assessing and predatory as she stared at Jaune, Pyrrha decided that she had had enough.

In front of the entire College population, Pyrrha firmly staked her claim.

She kissed him, with tongue. It lasted for several long seconds, and when they finally came up for air, they were panting.

' _Still sweeter than chocolate'_ Pyrrha thought.

Just to make certain her point came across, Pyrrha locked gazes with Cinder, as one hand spread across Jaune's chest. The other went significantly lower, taking hold of the very awake 'La Petite Mors' as Pyrrha had taken to calling it.

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed in challenge as Cinder impotently fumed.

"This is mine!" Pyrrha loudly declared, "This is where my pastries and babies come from!

END


	23. Chapter 23

**Cocoa and Quiche**

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a laugh as they ended their call with Ren and Nora. Unfortunately, the second half of their team were being detained by customs and would be a couple hours late in joining them since Nora refused to let them scan Magnhild.

Violently.

"Well, since we have a couple hours before Ren and Nora get here, why don't we take our stuff to the hotel, and get some lunch at one of the best cafes in Brioche?" Jaune asked, gesturing to the hotel that they were now only a block away from.

Pyrrha giggled, adjusting the fake reading glasses that Jaune had given her in the airport to help disguise her. It had absolutely nothing to do with how much more attractive she looked in them. Nothing at all. "That sounds grand, Jaune. I've heard so much about the famous wines and cheeses here. I've been looking forward to this all month!"

After checking in, and dropping their stuff off in their rooms, Jaune led them to a cafe only a short distance away from their hotel. For once the couple was making it a point not to hold hands in public, to help draw less attention to Pyrrha.

She was rather put out about this at first, until she noticed some of the stares, furtive glances, and muttered gossip around them. At first, she was afraid that the glasses and baseball cap that she had donned had not been enough, and she had been recognized.

Until she noticed an odd trend.

Most of the stares, and muttering were coming from young women close to her age, or a bit older. And they weren't staring at her. They were staring at...

"Jaune? Have you noticed all the people staring?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it, Pyr." the blonde reassured, whispering. "I kinda figured this would happen. I, uh, didn't exactly leave here under the best circumstances. It was a bit of a scandal since my parents expected me to take over the vinyards by now instead of being a Huntsman. Plus, I left not that long ago."

"Well, yes, but have you noticed that most of the people staring are women? It's a bit...concerning."

"Probably just jealous of the fact that you're the most beautiful woman here." the blonde stated with an exaggerated wink.

Pyrrha covered her mouth to muffle her snort, rolling her eyes. It was nice to be appreciated by her boyfriend, even when he was being a ham about it. Luckily, they made it into the cafe rather quickly after that, granting them some reprieve from the crowd.

Jaune waved to the older man standing behind the cashier counter as he walked in. The old man's face lit up with a wide grin, "Well if it isn't Brioche's undefeated dance champion himself! Feels like ages since you've been back! How are you, Jaune?" the man asks. reaching over to give Jaune a firm hand shake.

"I'm doing pretty well, Georges! This is my partner, Pyrrha. Pyr, this is Georges, the man that makes some of the best quiche you will ever have. And the drinks aren't too bad either."

Georges lets out a guffaw, taking a moment to muss Jaune's hair affectionately before he leads them over to a quiet, semi secluded table toward the back, away from the noise and typical crowd. There were quite a few young people in the front of the restaurant, packed in tightly to tables and talking loudly over drinks.

Glancing around at their surroundings, taking note of the loud murmur of conversation around them, Jaune suddenly remembers a rather important detail that was forgotten in all of JNPR's planning of this trip: It is summer, and the schools have just let out. Kids were celebrating their freedom.

Jaune groaned, rubbing his temples. "I'm sorry, Pyr. I totally spaced on the fact that civilian schools let out today. Do you want to go somewhere less crowded? We can come back tomorrow when all the crazies are sleeping..."

The Mistral champion smiled at her partner, reaching over to pat his hand in reassurance. "It's fine, Jaune. At least they're all too busy talking and partying to pay attention to us. Now, you wouldn't by chance be able to direct me to the restroom, would you?"

Jaune smiled, and pointed her toward the back of the room, where a restroom sign was plastered on a doorway, next to an old jukebox. Pyrrha gave him another smile of thanks before going off in that direction, leaving Jaune to place their order when George showed up with their drinks, the largest hot chocolates the cafe could provide.

Jaune smiled, thanking the older man before taking a sip of the drink, "Just as good as I remember, Georges!"

The older man laughed before wandering back over towards the kitchen to have their order started. Jaune took another sip of his hot chocolate, enjoying the warmth, and solitude, when his bubble of quiet contemplation was popped. "Is this seat taken?" a voice asked before abruptly sliding into the chair across from him before Jaune could even respond.

"Jaune Arc! Fancy meeting you here, I thought you were still at Beacon learning to fight Grimm, or whatever. Are you, uh, back to stay?"

JNPR's leader nearly choked on his hot chocolate. Sitting across from him was the one and only Haiku Goldenrod, considered by nearly all who went to be the most beautiful and popular girl in school. Jaune had harbored a rather intense, unrequited crush on the girl ever since her family moved to Brioche when he was in elementary school.

She had changed since he had been away, though he supposed that was to be expected after being gone for nearly a year. When he had left at the end of middle school, Haiku and her numerous friends were just beginning to develop the curves that signified the beginnings of puberty. Now, the young woman sitting across from him had clearly filled out in all the right places. Her flawless skin, and wavy purple hair complimented her generous figure.

"Haiku? Wow, you've, uh, changed quite a bit from the last time I saw you." the blonde stuttered out, for lack of anything better to say as he got the flush on his face from nearly choking on his hot drink under control.

The purple haired girl giggled, winding a lock of her hair through her fingers as she eyed him up and down, taking in the rather form fitting hoodie he was wearing. "You too, Jaune. You look...good."

The blonde nearly choked on his drink again, certain at this point that he was having some sort of sugar induced stroke. _'Haiku Goldenrod knows who I am? And she thinks I look good?! What parallel dimension have I been transported to?!'_ Jaune began to glance at his hot chocolate suspiciously certain it was the culprit, when he heard a round of giggling from a couple tables over.

He glanced over to see a table packed with Haiku's friends, the rest of the most beautiful and popular girls in school, all glancing their way and giggling. They ducked away as soon as he tried to make eye contact, naturally. "So Jaune, we're all having a party over at Ashur's later tonight to celebrate the start of summer. Maybe you'd like to come?" Haiku asked, leaning forward just slightly.

And it all suddenly became clear to him. This was a popularity stunt. Haiku and all of her little friends just wanted to chat up the returning Huntsman-in-training, maybe even score a date, just so they could say that they were dating a Grimm hunter. It made sense, in a way. Huntsmen and Huntresses were idols. Basically superheroes to the average civilian. _'That is just so...shallow,_ ' Jaune thought, _'I leave for nearly a year, get in shape, and help win a war with a Grimm controlling mad woman, and now I'm a hot commodity? Two can play this game.'_

Jaune gave her a friendly smile as he prepared to shut down this particular conversation before his partner got back, "You mean Ashur as in your boyfriend? The guy who went out of his way to torment me since elementary school? The same one who made it his mission to convince everyone that since I had seven older sisters, and all my friends were guys that played Grimm and Settlements that I was gay? He hates me, Haiku."

The girl blushed, giving him a nervous chuckle, "That's not true! He just likes to joke around! He, uh, he's really changed since the last time you saw him!"

"Oh really? I doubt that. Unless he's finally come out, and become comfortable with himself. He certainly spent enough time trying to convince me I liked guys. All that repression can't be healthy."

Jaune was done with this conversation. It was becoming mentally taxing, putting up with the vapid, shallow dog and pony show of these kids. They had no idea what he'd done just so they could go on living their happy little lives. And honesty? Now that he was really looking at her...Haiku and all her little friends were so bland and plain. They were still pretty, of course, but no matter what they tried they couldn't hold a candle to any of his female friends, let alone the most gorgeous girl in Remnant.

"Tell you what, I'll ask my team when the others get here if that's something they want to do. I doubt it, but maybe. In the meantime, my partner should be back soon, and our food, so if you wouldn't mind..."

Haiku was just taking note at the casual dismissal in his voice, staring at him incredulously, when they were suddenly interrupted.

"ARC!"

Jaune had only a moment to sigh dramatically before, as if summoned, Ashur Greyford came stomping up to their table, half-empty beer bottle in hand as he put an arm around Haiku possessively, "Just what were you doing talking to him?!" the boy demanded.

Haiku flinched away from her boyfriend, the smell of alcohol already strong on his breath, "N-nothing. I was just inviting him to your party, Ash."

The boy turned to Jaune then, leering as he took a healthy swig of his beer. "So, Jaune-y boy, back again? What's the matter, they wouldn't let crybabies be Grimm Huntsmen? You finally realize that wetting yourself isn't a real weapon?"

Jaune sighed dramatically. The boy before him reminded him a bit of Cardin before he stood up to him, all tall and broad shouldered. Only, Ashur had a lot more pimples. _'I can't believe I was ever intimidated by this idiot'_ the blonde thought.

JNPR's leader turned to face his old tormentor, who was doing his best to look imposing, as the now silent cafe looked on, "Hey there, Ash! Haiku was just inviting me to your party. As I was just telling her, though, it's something I need to discuss with my team. In fact, my partner should be back any-"

"Partner?! Who's he, your life patner? Gonna go shopping for matching gauntlet buttoned sweaters later?"

"Actually, Ash, she-"

"Hello again~!" Pyrrha called, choosing that moment to finally rejoin them from what Jaune thought of as the longest trip to the bathroom ever, which was saying something since he grew up in a house full of women. Jaune smiled at his girlfriend, taking a moment to pass her her hot chocolate before turning back to Haiku and Ash, who were staring at Pyrrha as if they were trying to figure out if she was real.

Being a properly raised gentleman, Jaune was quick to introduce his partner, "Guys, this is my partner, Pyrrha. She's part of my team. Pyr, this is the girl who stopped by to hit on me like they didn't see you come in with me, Haiku. Next to her is her boyfriend, and my childhood bully Ashur. Think of him as an even more repressed, dumber version of Cardin with bad skin."

Both Haiku and Ashur sputtered indignantly, while Georges' laughter rang out from the kitchen. It was Ashur, though, that decided to do something about it, gripping his empty beer bottle and advancing menacingly. For a civilian. Haiku tried to pull him away, and defuse the situation to no avail, "I'll show you, Arc! I'm gonna shove this bottle straight up your-"

"Nope."

Before Ashur could even blink, Jaune had reached over, and calmly plucked the bottle from his hands, laughing as he rounded the table to pull Pyrrha's seat out for her. The redhead gave him a grateful smile as she sat.

Ashur and Haiku stared at Jaune dumbly as he calmly placed the bottle on the table for Georges to put in the recycling bin, before turning back to his partner as though their audience didn't exist. "I was starting to worry. Any longer and your hot chocolate would've turned cold."

The redhead blushed lightly as she removed her glasses and hat, placing them in her purse, in a brazen show of unconcern. ' _Clearly these little girls need to understand that Jaune is spoken for. The time for subtlety is past.'_

Jaune goggled at his partner's daring, raising an eyebrow in concern. She merely gave him a coy smile, reaching over to take his hand before shooting a challenging look at the table where all of Haiku's friends were sitting. They all turned away quickly.

Jaune smiled at his partner, and girlfriend, enamored by her beauty and her adorable display of territorial aggression. _'Heh. These poor civilian girls just can't compete with one of the greatest Huntresses of her generation! Once you go Nikos, you don't go back...os.'_ He winced at how lame that sounded, even in his own head, before turning to their uninvited guests, who were rooted to the spot, gaping at Pyrrha and their still clasped hands.

"Sorry, Haiku, but I don't think we'll be making an appearance to that party after all. And Ashur, as you can clearly see, there's just no future for us as a couple, despite all your hopes. Now if you would be so kind, I'd really like to get back to my date. Our food should be here soon..."

Right on cue, Georges came bustling up to their table, laying a large ham and spinach quiche in the center of it, along with two serving plates and cutlery. He also handed Pyrrha another hot chocolate. "Compliments of the house, Miss." the older gentleman said with an exaggerated wink, "It's not every day this young lad brings a pretty girl to visit. We have to pull out all the stops!"

"Oi!" Jaune demanded in a show of mock anger, "Stop trying to seduce my girlfriend with chocolate! That's my job! What would Bianca say?"

The old man cackled, giving Jaune a hearty pat on the back, "Bah! My wife would tell me I wasn't trying hard enough, and to start baking some pain au chocolat to go with the quiche!" Georges declared boisterously, as he took the empty beer bottle from their table. For good measure, he shot Haiku and Ashur a glare that broke the two from their dumbstruck gaping, and sent them scurrying back to their table before giving the highly amused partners a wink as he trotted back to the kitchen.

Pyrrha giggled as she took a sip of her newest hot chocolate, "Well that was...lively."

Jaune chuckled, cutting a couple pieces of the quiche and serving Pyrrha, then himself. "That's Georges for you, he's quite the character."

"I like him," Pyrrha declared, "He makes good hot chocolate."

"Eh," Jaune stated, as he cut into his quiche, "It's his wife's recipe."

"Do you think she'd be willing to sell it to us?"

"Are you suggesting that we use your fame and fortune to buy a hot chocolate recipe to further feed your dark, insatiable desire for all things cocoa?"

"I regret nothing!" Pyrrha declared with an imperious twitch of the nose, making certain to angle her head just so as she made a show of looking down her nose, an expression she learned from hanging out with Weiss.

The couple dissolved into a fit of giggles after a moment before resuming their lovely meal, eager to enjoy the rest of their trip as they waited for Ren and Nora.

END


	24. Chapter 24

**Focus**

"So, class, do any of you believe that you have what it takes to be true Huntsmen?" Professor Port called out as he scanned the room. Several of the students looked eager. Some were glancing at the shaking cage near him in contemplation. The Schnee heiress even had her hand in the air, almost begging to be called on.

Port's eyes kept scanning the room, however. There was something else he was looking for...

There! The Arc boy. The young man looked particularly nervous, but Port could see something else as well. There was a spark, a desire to prove himself.

"How about you, Mr. Arc? Would you like to test your mettle?"

"M-me? I'm, uh, not so sure that's a great idea, sir..."

"Nonsense, my boy! Up you get! Time to show the class exactly what you're made of!"

"That's what worries me..." Jaune mumbled, too low for Port to hear.

Port looked on, pleased at the comraderie shown in the freshmen class as both his own team and Team RWBY offered nods and words of encouragement. That did not stop the young man from trudging off to the locker room as though he were about to face an Atlesian firing squad.

Jaune sighed deeply as he reentered the classroom, fully decked out in his combat gear, sword and shield in hand. He was doing his best to hide his nerves by immitating his father's "serious face" as he stared at the cage that housed the angry Grimm. He must have been only mildly successful as his team and RWBY began to cheer him on.

"Fight well!"

"You got this, Vomit Boy!"

"Break its legs!"

"We believe in you, Jaune!"

Jaune only had a moment to give them a smile that he hoped hid is nerves, before setting himself in the basic stance that he saw his sisters use. The next thing he knew, Port cried out "Tally Ho!" before the Grimm was released from its prison.

The creature stopped once it was fully free of the cage, taking a moment to study its surroundings, which gave him a moment to study it in turn. 'Okay, a Boarbatusk. I know most of its armor is focused at the front because it specializes in charging attacks. If I can knock it off balance, it has a vulnerable belly. It also has a small gap in its bone armor at the base of its skull.'

Jaune's planning session was cut short as the Grimm finally spotted him, and began pawing at the ground in preparation for its attack. Jaune bent his knees, and set his shield, hoping to face the charge head-on. This plan was ruined when Pyrrha called out, "Jaune, move!"

JNPR's leader took his eyes off of the boarbatusk as it began to spin in place, building momentum for its assault, "What?" he asked.

"Don't try to block it with your shield, move!" Pyrrha called out again.

Unfortunately, this helpful advice came a bit late. By the time Jaune turned back to the Grimm, it was already too close for him to get out of the way. Jaune panicked, crouching down behind his shield as much as possible, in hopes of stopping its charge. He was partially successful. The beast slammed into his shield with punishing force, nearly knocking it from his hand.

This managed to bleed off some of its momentum, but not much. Luckily, the way that Jaune had angled the shield, meant that instead of rolling over him, the pig-like Grimm was sent flying into the air, using the shield like a ramp to careen into the sky before crashing down behind Jaune like a deadly pinball.

Jaune spun around, returning his shield to its sheath mode, realizing that the added weight would just slow him down since his game plan was to focus on dodging. The boarbatusk looked disoriented, staggering a bit to one side as it shook its head. Jaune decided to sieze the moment, beginning his own charge, and bringing his sword up in an overhead swing, hoping to knock the Grimm down.

That plan did not go well.

The boarbatusk's confusion didn't last nearly as long as Jaune hoped. Once he got within striking range, the beast braced itself, as if preparing for another charge, turning its head to deflect Jaune's blade. Luckily, it could not completely stop the blow, catching Crocea Mors on its tusks. The force of Jaune's strike, combined with the angle, meant that the tusk was sliced clean through, leaving it to clatter to the floor. Unfortunately, he overextended himself, leaning too far forward in the strike.

The boarbatusk knocked him over easily with a nudge of its head, sending Jaune sprawling to the floor. Luckily, he retained his hold on his weapon, using it as a sort of prop to scramble back to his feet.

He set his stance not a moment too soon, because the boarbatusk made to charge at him again. Jaune held his sword away from his chest, ready to lash out the second he saw an opening. Just as the boarbatusk was about to reach him, Jaune dodged to the side, pirouetting out of the way rather gracefully, as he turned to face the boarbatusk, preparing a charge of his own. He took off running, hoping to get there before the beast could come out of its daze...

He tripped on the severed piece of the Grimm's tusk, sword flying from his grasp to land with a clatter next to the irate Grimm.

Luckily, Jaune was able to catch himself, doing a pushup, and getting back to his feet. _'Crap! What do I do now?'_ the blonde thought, too overcome with fear at the loss of his weapon to feel embarrassment over his lackluster performance so far. He glanced down to the floor, spotting the tusk that had tripped him.

Thinking quickly, Jaune grabbed up the sharp tusk, and made a mad dash for the still dazed Grimm. When he got close enough, Jaune lashed out with a kick to its legs, tripping the beast up. With its mobility disrupted, Jaune crouched, and held the dull end of the tusk like a dagger as he plunged it down onto the neck of the beast, right at the base of its skull.

The Grimm squealed in pain, trying to get away. Jaune, full of endorphins, fear, and a visibly surging aura, was having none of it. With a burst of strength he didn't know he possessed, Jaune flipped the beast over, and proceeded to bash its head into the classroom floor, driving its dislodged tusk further into the creature's body.

Again.

And again.

"YAAAHHH!" With a cry of exertion, and a final slam, the Grimm went still, before it began to dissolve into dust.

Jaune became aware of the world around him again when Professor Port began clapping. "Bravo! Well done, my boy! Excellent improvisational skills when you lost your weapon! Your form needs work, but that will come with time! Looks like we are in the presence of a true Huntsman-in-Training!"

The blonde blushed as he shuffled on wobbly legs to his sword, putting it back in its sheath before he made his way back to his seat, blood still pounding in his ears.

He didn't even get a chance to sit down before he was practically mobbed by his friends.

"Wow, Jaune, that was awesome! You were all wa-tah! and the Grimm was all woosh!" Ruby squealed.

"That. Was. AWESOME! Way to go Fearless Leader!" Nora crowed, picking him up in a hug that nearly cracked his ribs.

Pyrrha smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Well fought."

As the praise washed over him, he noticed something else, too.

Everyone was talking about him. Some were whispering, others were just staring.

Even CRDL was looking at him.

' _What on Remnant is going on here?'_ Jaune thought.

END


	25. Chapter 25

**Study Session**

Jaune and Pyrrha were ecstatic to have the room to themselves for the evening, since Nora took the opening of a new 24-hour pancake restaurant as a personal challenge, and Ren went with her to supervise. The young couple was eager to make the most of this opportunity, since they had very few chances to enjoy any private time to themselves.

In fact, they had been doing so for the last hour if the blurred number Pyrrha glimpsed on their digital clock was to be believed. Her vision wasn't entirely reliable now, considering she was seeing mostly spots and flashes of light.

Her heart was pounding, pulse thrumming in her ears, as her flushed skin glistened with sweat. Her amazing partner and boyfriend had been demonstrating his gift of tongues for the entire time, showing her his very cunning use of his linguistic skills.

After his third climactic demonstration in only a short time, Pyrrha could only reach one obvious conclusion. Jaune Arc's grasp of language was as undeniable as her combat prowess, and twice as dangerous. 'Truly Oum gives and he takes away...' the champion thought, just as she completed another successful demonstration.

Eventually, though, all good things must come to an end, and for Pyrrha that end was around successful demonstration number six. She collapsed in a boneless heap onto the bed, muscles like jelly, as she slid herself away from her partner's face. Luckily for them both, she had the presence of mind to angle herself so that she landed next to him, instead of on top.

Pyrrha reached for the glass of water she had placed on the end table, along with the oranges she had peeled earlier. She managed to steady her shaking hand long enough to eat a few orange slices and take a sip of water before turning to her boyfriend with a warm and satisfied smile, ready to contribute to this "joint study session" by demonstrating some of her spear handling techniques.

Unfortunately, that is when she noticed her boyfriend was having a rather difficult problem, "Jaune?"

"'es, Pywwha?"

"Why is your mouth still open? Oh, do you want some orange? I'm sorry! I was so excited to continue studying, I forgot!"

"'s okah, Pyw. I 'ant 'hew 'ow, a'ywah." the blonde stated, as he rolled onto his side to make eye contact with her.

"What do you mean you can't chew? What's wrong?" Pyrrha asked, euphoria beginning to give way to concern.

"Mh 'aw isss s'uck..."

"Your jaw is stuck?"

"'es. Sadwy."

"Oh, I see." Pyrrha's earlier concern began to give way to something she had rarely felt in her life: panic.

"AHHH!" The Mistral champion screamed, as the fear for her boyfriend's health began to overtake her.

"AHHHH!" Jaune echoed, "Pywwha! W'y awe 'ou scweaming?!"

The redhead placed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart begin to pound as if she were in a championship bout to defend her title, "Why are you screaming?!"

"I sweamed be'auss 'ou i'!"

"Okay, okay, think Nikos! We can fix this, don't worry, Jaune! I'll think of something!" the redhead began to ramble aloud, almost on the verge of tears.

As if their current disaster wasn't awkward enough, a knock on the door announced that they had visitors.

As Pyrrha's ingrained politeness fought with her embarrassment and panic, the door swung open, and in stepped Blake Belladonna. "I heard screaming and moaning of the hentai variety, and I came as soon as I heard! Then I decided to see what you two were up to. I see my hentai senses are functioning at full capacity."

Pyrrha and Jaune stared in wide-eyed embarrassment as Blake took in the whole scene, paying particular attention to the blonde on the bed, and his gaping mouth.

"Ah, I see the problem here! Classic rookie move, guys. Luckily, this is easily fixed." With that pronouncement, and a tug of Pyrrha's hand, Bake crossed the room, and sat on Jaune's bed, before gently taking his jaw into her hands and beginning to massage it with her thumbs.

As Jaune's jaw began to slowly relax, with Blake guiding Pyrrha's hand in the proper motions, she continued her impromptu lecture, "Taking breaks is very important. Sure, going at it for a whole hour sounds great, and it is, but just starting out it's not the best way to go. You need to build up the endurance and muscles to do this properly. Eventually, you'll be able to do an hour or more without difficulty, but for now take a break every ten minutes, okay?"

As the two blushing teens nodded their understanding, and said their thanks, the ninja of team RWBY gave them a wink, before she was once again at their door, preparing to leave.

"Blake?" Jaune called shyly, barely managing to keep eye contact, as he was more concerned with the fact that he and Pyrrha were still very much naked.

"Yes, Jaune?"

"How did you know about-?"

"How to relax a locked jaw? Easy. I'm a Cat Faunus. Sometimes, it's easier to bathe the more natural way, especially when you live with a certain Schnee that doesn't seem to understand that water heaters do not contain infinite hot water."

"Oh~!" the partners chorused.

"Plus, it comes in handy during my own alone time, too Especially since Yang hogs all the batteries." she declared with an unrepentant wink, departing the room as she left her two friends a blushing, stuttering wreck.

END


	26. Chapter 26

**Crossover Intensifies!**

The result of a contest over on Discord. Reimagine a scene from Dragon Ball Z Abridged with RWBY characters. This is the result, enjoy!

 **The Adventures of Picozlo and Qrowku:**

"Hey, Picozlo! Mind if I ask ya somethin'?"

"I do not believe that now is the time since…."

"Great! So, you're a quasi-immortal being that gets a new body when he dies, right?"

"Well that's not quite…"

"Niiicccee! And you live in a tower, yeah?"

"Well yes, I do reside in a tower that is also a school…"

"Are you a wizard?"

" sigh While I do not necessarily use magic that often, I suppose I do meet some of the stereotypes required to be a wizard."

(BURP) "Can…can I touch your staff?"

 _Ozpin stare intensifies_

 **This Will be the Day Intro Music intensifies**

Qrowku and Picozlo land dramatically

"Hey! Hazets! Gimme back my might possibly be actual niece-daughter! Where is she anyway?"

Hazets sighs as he gestures to his ship, a small pod. "I put her in there, and gave her some sweets I stole from the farmer I put to sleep, since no one has to die today. She's eaten three boxes of cookies in twenty minutes. I mean sure, no one has to die today, but you should really think about curbing that kid's sugar intake. Diabetes is serious business. It's a dark, slippery slope."

Qrowku takes a swig from his ever trusty flask, to get into the fighting mood, before exchanging a dramatic nod with Picozlo. Together, they commence their attack.

Hazets sighs as he proceeds to engage in the favorite pass time of many an Olympic athlete: Using all the drugs

Suddenly the two would be rescuers are knocked back by Hazets' increased power levels, complete with screaming Picozlo's name. Which was weird since they had never met before today.

After several minutes of fighting, most of which consisted of a round of "rock paper scissors" between Qrowku and Picozlo to decide who would complete the suicidal part of their plan, the two "heroes" enacted a last ditch gamble to save Qrowku's daughter-niece.

The two fighters literally danced around Hazets, who simply stood there, shaking his head in exasperation. Qrowku berated Picozpin, "This is not what we 'rock paper scissored' for, Wizard! You're the immortal! You get to hold him down while I shoot my wad at him! Heh. Down."

Picozlo sighed, "Phrasing Mr. Qrowku, and very well." The green sweater wearing magical man stood behind Hazel, gripping him in the most intimately tight embrace he could manage. _'You know, this isn't so bad. Rather warm and comforting, being pressed against such a strong manly man. I bet if we reenacted the scene from Dirty Dancing, he'd have no trouble lifting me…'_

Sadly for Picozlo, his Dirty Dancing fantasies were interrupted by Qrowku 'spraying his wad', an attack which consisted of the Huntsman casually walking up to Hazets, and pouring an entire bottle of moonshine over his head, before striking a match and running away.

Picozlo only had a moment to stare incredulously before his world was fire.

Qrowku, in the meantime, was busy chugging some of his top shelf reserves in premature celebration. Why premature? Because that's the only way he knew how to unload his wad. Definitely not as foreshadowing to the fact that Hazets was still alive.

Though, incidentally…

"Seriously? No screaming or anything?" Qrowku goggled at the unharmed Hazets, who had withstood his attack, and had only seemed to get a free tan and waxing out of the deal, since his body hair from the neck up was completely gone. The hair on his head was completely unharmed.

"That it?" he asked.

Qrowku was out of options and decided to see if his partner had anything to add. If he had a trump card, now was the time…

Several feet away from the fight, Picozlo merely looked on in a dazed stupor, lying on the ground and waiting to die. Luckily, the Plot Armor Gods decided to throw Qrowku a freebie.

Just as he was about to attack, Hazet's "Time Out Pod" began to shake, before it was engulfed in a silver light, which blinded the combatants.

Rubhan was out of cookies.

 **She Was Hangry!**

In a fit of childish tantrum, she lifted her former prison, and chucked it at Hazets, unleashing another silver blast from her eyes for good measure before passing out in exhaustion. Which was just as well, kids coming down off of a sugar high was never pleasant. Let alone ones that had committed murder in their sugar fueled rage. Sugar was a dangerous beast, much like any other drug.

Just ask Hazets.

Oh, wait…

The light shows didn't stop there, however. Not to be outdone, Picozlo began to glow a suspiciously familiar gold color, before he was engulfed in light. When the light died down, Qrowku stared in amazement.

Where before Picozlo had been an old man, now stood a young, cherubic looking cinnamon roll of a boy with tan skin, and dark hair. 'That bastard isn't a wizard at all! Either I'm drinking too much or he's a bloody Time Lord!' Qrowku was not amused. Forget touching his staff, Qrowku wanted to ride Picozlo…'s TARDIS!

"Mister Qrowku, your daughter-niece holds a very special power within her. One that must be cultivated if she is to save the world. I must take her away to train her extensively in a very personal manner, and in a very remote area where none may find us. In seclusion. I will of course remember to curb her raging sugar demon tendencies. Her special eyes are the future of the world, after all…"

As Picozlo grabbed his daughter-niece, and flew off into the sunset, Qrowku stopped his dreaming about the TARDIS long enough to envision what often happened to female companions of Time Lords. Especially the ones partnered with cinnamon rolls like David Tennant or Matt Smith.

Rubhan didn't stand a chance.

"Dammit," Qrow muttered, swigging the last of his flask, "Taiyang-chi is gonna kill me…"

END


	27. Chapter 27

**Arkos Week Day One-Pyrrha Lives: Shot Through the Heart**

"You're too late!" Cinder snarked as she witnessed Jaune arrive on the rooftop, glowing with projected aura. Her hand tensed as she pulled back the string ofher bow, ready to loose the arrow that would snuff out the life of Pyrrha Nikos.

Pyrrha's eyes widened in panic, more afraid that Jaune was in danger than she had been staring her own would be murderer in the face.

"Jaune! You have to leave! Run aw-"

But the next thing she knew, Jaune was there, the warm glow of his semblance nearly blinding the two women as he seemingly teleported in front of Pyrrha. He was standing in the basic stance she had drilled into him shield raised to protect them both like a knight of old.

Though she could only see his back, his stance was tall and his muscles tense. "You give villains a bad name!" Jaune declared, bracing himself against the impact of Cinder's arrow as it strike's his shield.

The villainess smirked mockingly, even as she struggled against the brightness of Jaune's aura, "Soon my arrows will drip rubies! You're only delaying the inevitable, foolish boy!"

"Isn't that what heroes are supposed to do?" Jaune stated, doing his best to keep his feet after that blow, giving his all to protect his partner.

"Jaune, she's going to kill you! You can't keep that level of aura projection up forever!" The tears were evident in her tone, even though Jaune couldn't turn around to see them.

"It's too late to apologize, it's too late. I wouldn't do it anyway. You're my partner, and I am here until the end. We protect each other! Arkos, remember?"

This just made Pyrrha want to cry even harder as she tried to will her body to move. Unfortunately, her injuries and lack of aura were now putting her in a position she had rarely found herself: Helpless.

The feeling was only compounded when Cinder, finally having enough of this nonsense, decided to make use of the monstrous Grimm behind her that was simply laying there menacingly, having Grimm babies. "This is the end, you fools! My dragon is like a lion, and you're gonna hear him roar!" Cinder declared, gesturing to the pair.

The dragon did indeed roar, but Jaune stood firm, his shield somehow absorbing the heat of the flames as the dragon's deadly projectile attack parted around him. The flames flickered and sparkled around the teens, lighting the night like ten thousand fireflies. Cinder, however, was not idle.

Once she saw that the dragon's flames were not lighting them up like a firework, she decided to flank them, managing to get behind the pair while they were distracted. The pair is completely caught off guard when Cinder rushes them, all their attention on the dragon.

Jaune whirls around to find the mysterious woman holding a short sword made of some kind of sharp, gleaming material to his partner's throat. Pyrrha is using what little strength her exhausted body can spare to keep the blade from slicing her throat. Jaune ignored the dragon, which had gone back to casually spawning lesser Grimm to destroy Beacon, and decided to simply charge Cinder in a desperate attempt to save his partner.

Cinder merely smirked cruelly before slashing her throat. Or so she tried.

She was interrupted by a flurry of rose petals. "Jaune! Pyrrha! Are you okay?" Ruby had finally arrived, and just in time.

Everyone turned to face her as she brandished Crescent Rose at Cinder, confused and shocked at what was going on. Wasn't Cinder their friend? The femme fatale glared menacingly at this latest interruption, "Any more guests I should be expecting to our little get together, boy?"

"What can I say? I've got friends in low places." Jaune replied, trying to mask his fear at Pyrrha's near death with bravado.

Cinder flared her own aura, launching a fire ball with her off hand to distract Jaune, while her other continued to try to slash Pyrrha's throat. That tactic was abandoned as a bullet from Ruby's rifle impacted the knife, dissolving it in a flash of orange sparks. However Cinder was still determined to kill Pyrrha and claim the remaining Maiden powers for her own.

She brought her hands up and began to choke Pyrrha, as she prepared to snap her neck. "NOOOOO!" Ruby and Jaune cried.

Jaune's aura flared desperately, racing forward in an effort to shield his partner, while Ruby was engulfed in a strange silver light…

 **XXX**

Pyrrha blinked slowly as she came to. Jaune was crouched over her, hands on her heel and his aura enveloping her foot. "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" she asked in her delirium.

"I don't think so, Pyr." Jaune assured her, doing his best to wipe his tears onto his shirt without moving his hands.

"Are you okay, Jaune? What are you doing? What happened? Where are Ruby and the woman that attacked us?"

"Well that's the good news. I'm not sure what happened after everything started glowing, since I just woke up myself. All I know for sure is that the dragon is frozen, and that woman escaped. Ruby's uncle found us, and helped me carry you and Ruby to the safe zone set up on the outskirts of Vale since you were both unconscious. I was trying desperately to recharge your aura with mine when I accidentally discovered my semblance. I think. My aura was boosting yours."

Now that he mentioned it, Pyrrha did feel much better than she had in what felt like days now. Was Jaune's semblance some sort of healing multiplier? That would be immensely useful. "What is the plan now? We have to stop that woman! There's no telling what she'll do if left unchecked!"

"We will, Pyrrha. I promise! No way is Team JNPR gonna let the woman that tried to destroy Vale get away with it! You, Ren, and Nora have been asleep for a couple of days now. Once we're all back up to full strength we're going after her. Ruby's uncle gave us a lead. Ozpin said something about meeting with the headmaster of Sanctum Academy."

"What about Team RWBY? Will they be joining us?"

"I…don't think that's going to be possible for a while. RWBY's scattered at the moment."

Pyrrha was horrified and heartbroken at the news Jaune relayed. Her friends… Poor Yang…

"There is good news is though, Penny is okay!"

The redhead's heart nearly leapt into her throat. How could that be? "What? But I…I k-"

Jaune saw the guilt she was carrying. He could see the want to blame herself in her eyes, and quashed it hard. "No, you didn't, Pyrrha. Penny is a robot. An android that can project aura. Her mind and soul are real, but her body isn't. Before her body was destroyed, she vacated it, and ended up in a spare somewhere in Atlas. General Ironwood is sending her with us to Mistral to meet the headmaster."

Pyrrha could hardly believe it. She wasn't a murderer? She was going home. And most importantly, she was not dead.

"Try moving your foot now, Pyrrha. Next we'll have you stand, see if the leg can support you."

The redhead did as her partner asked, moving on auto-pilot. She was startled when she was able to move the foot as though she had never taken an arrow through her achilles tendon.

Jaune smiled brightly at her. "Good. I'm glad that's on the mend. Try to stand."

She did so, leaning cautiously on Jaune for help. Her leg felt weak, and she was unsteady on her legs like a toddler learning to walk. Her muscles were stiff from fatigue and inactivity, but the leg did support her. Jaune gave her a proud, excited smile.

"Get some rest, Pyrrha. I'll go see if I can find us some rations from the temporary mess hall."

"Jaune, wait…"

The blonde turned back to her expectantly. "Stay with me. Please. Until I fall asleep."

"Okay, Pyr." The two partners shared a quiet moment together amidst the chaos surrounding them. They did their best to push away all the turmoil, and stress of the last few days, checking their emotional baggage for the moment and taking comfort in each other.

They were alive.

They were whole.

END


	28. Chapter 28

**Arkos Week Day Two-Aura: Pretty in Pink**

"Nora! On your left! Ren, take the Taijitu! Pyrrha, Arkos! Use the ruins for cover as we move! There's no telling if that Nevermore will come back!"

The team rushed to obey his commands as Jaune got in position next to Pyrrha, the two forming an impassable shield wall to funnel the approaching Ursa Majors into a choke point, trapping them in the small space between two of ruined houses, and between their defense and Magnhild.

The Ursa Major did not survive the encounter.

With the biggest threats ended, with Ren stabbing the Taijitu with an aura enhanced knife courtesy of its own fang, JNPR continued making a strategic retreat to the evacuation point, where a team of older students was supposed to reinforce them.

They just had to get there first.

Pyrrha used her semblance to tear away the wall of a chain link fence, chucking it behind her in an effort to slow down the pursuing pack of Beowolves. They had 100 meters to go before they reached their exit.

Suddenly, between one stride and the next, Pyrrha's aura begins to flag, her extended use of her semblance during their fighting retreat finally catching up with her. Luckily, her partner was there, hefting his great sword in one hand, and using his other to prop her up as she stumbled. She wasn't the only one suffering.

Nora was carrying Ren in a sort of modified fireman's carry, as he laid down suppressing fire over her shoulder with Storm Flower

. "I got you, partner! Lean on me! Not much farther now!" Jaune shouted over the roars and growls of their pursuers.

"Thank you, Jaune! Be sure to conserve your aura! We don't know how many enemies are ahead!"

The blonde winked, doing his best to keep pace with the redhead as they approached the outskirts of the ruined town, "Hey, I've got lots of aura, remember? I can spare some to help you! Maybe mine can help charge yours back up."

"Jaune, I don't think…" She didn't get a chance to say anymore, as a sudden warmth flooded her system, and a bright pink glow invaded her vision.

She glanced down to see that Jaune's hand was on her shoulder, as his aura pumped steadily into her. She was beginning to feel wonder, pride, attraction…?

Pyrrha blushed hotly as the warmth increased.

The aches and pains of the last few hours melted away, leaving a pleasant tingle that was lost to a startling realization. These feelings were not her own.

They were coming from… "Jaune!"

Pyrrha's cry alerted Ren and Nora, who stopped so that Ren could provide more accurate cover fire as Pyhhra stowed her weapons to carry her unconscious partner over her shoulder.

Once he was secured, the trio resumed their frantic dash towards their exit. They were passing the last two buildings when one of the Alpha Beowolves displayed an unusual amount of intelligence, jumping from the back of a boarbatusk to gain altitude and distance.

The enterprising Alpha tackled Pyrrha, just as a lucky shot from Ren took it through the eye, dissolving it. The momentum was still enough to knock Pyrrha off her feet, though, causing her to stumble, and drop Jaune. The Grimm horde gained on them, the distance shrinking rapidly, when Pyrrha's soul responded to her panic.

Her recharged aura flared a bright red, her semblance activated, coating the two small stores they were passing entirely in black. They did not remain standing long, as suddenly every piece of metal from screws and bolts to rebar came flying out of the buildings in a destructive dervish of death.

The pursuing Grimm began to dissolve en masse, giving JNPR the breathing room they needed to put more distance between them and their pursuers.

As they cleared the outskirts of the town at a dead run, they were greeted with the high pitched whine of a Bullhead's engines, followed by the unmistakable sound of a Coco Adel's signature weapon firing a full clip into the last of the Grimm pursuing them.

When the airship landed, the upperclassman greeted the exhausted team with her signature smirk, and wink…

Jaune awoke slowly to the sound of light snoring.

He opened his eyes to stare blearily at the ceiling of his dorm. He turned his head to discover the source of the sound that woke him up. His partner had her head resting on his stomach, a bit of drool leaking out onto his hoodie as she softly snored away.

It was honestly rather adorable, and he would be happy to let her continue. Unfortunately, nature was calling.

Jaune did his best to try wiggling out from under his partner, grabbing his pillow, and gently sliding it under her head, just as the Delaware Brown movies had taught him. The blonde used every ounce of the stealth skills gained from being the youngest sibling in a house with seven older sisters to make his way to the bathroom undiscovered.

All that work was undone once he started running water to wash his hands, and flushed the toilet, though. His gentlemanly reflexes demanded nothing less.

Jaune winced when he exited the bathroom, and saw Pyrrha rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The redhead gave an excited squeal of surprise, launching herself over the bed and into Jaune's personal space.

"Jaune! I was so worried! Are you alright? How are you feeling? Can i get-"

He silenced her with a smile, and a gently placed finger on her lips, unthinkingly. They both blushed. "I-I'm fine, Pyrrha. Not sure what happened, though. I remember feeding you some of my aura. There was a bright pink light, and then…that's it."

"You passed out really suddenly, Jaune. I carried you, but we got attacked by an Alpha Beowolf. It made me stumble just as we reached the edge of the town. I panicked, and my semblance manifested. It tore the metal out of two nearby buildings, and hurled it at the Grimm, buying us enough time to escape."

"Whoa! I didn't know your semblance was that powerful! That's awesome!"

"That's just it, Jaune. It isn't. Not normally. I think our aura's interacted somehow. Mixed, and amplified mine. There was something else as well."

"Something else?" "I felt…your emotions when our auras linked."

"Wait…seriously? That's a thing? I mean…I know that you used your aura to unlock mine…"

"Yes, and I think that when you…reciprocated, mixing your aura with mine, it created a sort of link. Ren believes that that is what the pink light was, our mixing auras."

"Heh, leave it to our resident aura expert. Wait, does that mean you felt all of my emotions during the fight?"

Pyrrha blushed intensely, acutely aware of the fact that their very souls had intertwined, an act far more intimate than anything most couples could ever hope to achieve. "Well, I did feel your…attraction at one point."

Now it was Jaune's turn to blush, "Crap! Look Pyrrha, I'm sorry, okay? I promise not to be weird about it, and I won't bug you for dates or anything! It's just, you're my best friend, and really beautiful, and…"

"No, Jaune, it's okay! Really!"

"It is?"

"Yes. I've actually been attracted to you for…quite some time."

"Wow. Just…wow. Are you sure?"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes before closing the distance between then, wrapping her arms around her partner's neck, and kissing him with all the passion she could muster.

It was quite a lot.

Jaune was pretty passionate himself, once they figured out all the logistics. They were clumsy, and awkward, but for them, it was perfect.

They broke apart reluctantly once the need for air became too great. "You know, it's gonna be way harder to focus during training, now."

Pyrrha snorted a laugh, punching his shoulder playfully. She was pleased when Jaune didn't fall.

"So, Semblance! Do you think it has to do with this link, or boosting your aura?"

Pyrrha's eyes were alight with the fervor of training and the potential discovery of a new technique. "Possibly. Are you sure you're recovered enough to train?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you have just discovered a new technique. You know what this means, yes?"

Jaune grinned, "Training."

One Week Later

Blake's ears twitched as she sat with a book in the dorm common room with her team plus Nora.

Ruby was doing gun maintenance, Weiss was watching a soap opera on her scroll, and Nora and Yang were currently engaged in an arm wrestling match.

"Jaune and Pyrrha are training on the roof again." Blake noted with a turn of a page.

"How can you tell? Aren't the dorms supposed to be soundproof?" Ruby asked curiously.

"I have really good hearing, and Pyrrha has no concept of an inside voice. Even if they are technically outside." Blake replied with a deadpan tone.

"Oh that's nothing! Jauney's just giving Pyrrha aural stimulation!" Nora casually declared with barely a grunt of effort as her struggle against Yang suddenly ceased.

She looked around to notice that all of RWBY was staring at her, faces flushed and eyes wide in disbelief.

"WAIT! You're telling me that Vomit Boy is…" Yang began.

Weiss abandoned her scroll to reach over and quickly place her hands over Ruby's ears in a by now empty attempt to preserve her innocence. "You're telling us that Pyrrha and that uncouth annoyance are…are…"

"Reenacting page 127 of Ninjas of Love: Pearl Paradise?" Blake completed for her.

"What?! NO! He's just using his aura to boost hers, and heal their training injuries. It's just their souls merging together in an act of intense intimacy and trust on a level more profound than booping! Really, get your minds out of the gutter, guys!" Nora declared with a giggle.

END


	29. Chapter 29

A Cautionary Tale

The day was picturesque. Fields were alive with greenery, and the scent of flowers, bees buzzing to and fro. The sun shone brightly in the cloudless, a rich light blue. The breeze was gentle on the young traveler's face, enough to caress the skin like a lover's kiss. 'This is the sort of day that belongs on greeting cards...' the young man thought, smiling as his feet carried him further up the road.

The robbery was quite unexpected.

Six large men seemingly melted out of a nearby copse of trees, ex-military given their coordination and build. And the uniforms, of course. There was no mistaking the insignia of Dragoon Battalion infantry.

"Hello there! Good day, gents!" the young traveler called, tone at odds with the business-like expressions of the men that surrounded him, weapons ready.

"Greetings, young man," the leader of the bandits, given the stripes on his uniform, returned. "Fine day, isn't it?"

"Oh absolutely. Been waiting for a day like today for a while. Travelling to Morsberth, to visit family. Perhaps work in my uncle's business since I have a head for numbers. I'm looking for a career change."

"Oh? What line of work are you leaving?" the leader asked, gesturing for the young man to shrug off his pack.

The young traveler leaned forward, bending slightly since he stood a head taller than the men that surrounded him, laid his pack on the ground, and whispered as if sharing a secret: "Hospitality. I've worked in my father's restaurant since I was old enough to hold a bowl."

The leader laughed, even as the others exchanged discreet glances. Clearly they weren't expecting much from this score.

"Well I certainly hope your customers tipped well!"

The traveler laughed. "Sometimes. I didn't wait tables much. That was left to the girls. I was a cook, mostly. Kept the books."

The traveler's pack was rifled through with military efficiency, one of the men spreading out a blanket to keep the potential valuables clean as the loot was sorted. It was almost a polite transaction, really. When it was over, a few nice sets of clothes lay to one side, including the traveler's favorite button-up shirt, and some of his nicer kitchen ware and spices.

"I imagine that you still had to deal with quite a few nasty people, though," the leader commiserated, "Some people have no respect or decency anymore. It's a shame, really."

The traveler laughed, a bright, carefree sound. "Tell me about it. I remember this one time, I had to deal with this very old man. Nice enough sort, even if he liked t drink a little too much. It was closing time, and I was the poor sod that had to get the old guy to leave."

The leader nodded appreciably, listening intently to the young man's story, even as he rifled through his wallet, revealing a smattering of copper colored bills, some silver, and even a few that were gold. The leader's eyebrows raised appreciably as he quickly divided the loot in equal shares for his men, keeping the gold for himself.

"Yeah. I had to help the old guy out the door, since it was late. Luckily, he only lived a few houses down from the pub, so I had enough time to make sure he got home and be back in time to close. He rambled a bit, like all old folks do. Especially drunk ones."

All of the men nodded, each paying polite attention to the story now that the loot was secure.

"Well, it's the funny how wine and age loosen tongues, because the old timer said something really odd, and really profound."

"Oh? And what was that?"

"When you give your time to something, you are also giving your life."

The men were curious now, they could see that there was more to the story, and they were eager for an explanation to the cryptic statement.

"It's just like work, he had said. You go to work, toiling away at whatever it is you have to do, and you make money, which you use to buy things. But it isn't really the money you by things with. You buy things with time. When you work somewhere, you are paid a certain amount each day. That is how much value your time has."

The bandits nodded in understanding.

"So, when you do something, whether it is work or leisure, you are pouring your time into it. That means you are pouring your life into it, too. So, when you, say, buy an expensive watch, you are really deciding how much of your life that watch is worth, since it took time to earn."

Around the young traveler, many of the men nodded in agreement. The leader looked as though this were an argument he had never considered before. "Really a fascinating tale, to be sure. Older people can really be full of wisdom."

The traveler smiled. "They really can. Though, there is one last piece to the story. One final bit of advice he gave me before I left him at his door."

"Really?" the leader asked, "And what was that?"

"Because the things you invest in represent how much of your life you value them for, you really shouldn't let people rob you..."

The bandits became tense at those words, the jovial, conversational atmosphere dying like the dreams of contestants on a singing competition show. It did them little good.

The traveler used his height to his advantage, closing with the nearest bandit that wasn't the leader, and delivering several quick, open palmed strikes to his abdomen, strong enough to get through his leather armor and cause the man to bend forward like a chair.

A quick strike to the back of the neck put the man down.

The bandit next to him was just getting his sword out when the traveler closed with him, using the momentum of the bandit's draw to spin him into his fellows, while retaining the man's weapon, which he promptly threw away.

Swords weren't really his thing.

The bandit that had been reduced to a human bowling ball careened into his two fellows, who didn't even have time to get their weapons out before they were all sent to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Gravity had done most of the work for him, so it was the work of a moment for the traveler to cross the distance, and deliver a few precise kicks to the head, putting three more opponents out of the fight.

The last of the men not the leader turned to the traveler, eyes wide, stance ready. He had learned from his fellows' mistakes, and hadn't bothered trying to draw his sword, seeing how quickly his opponent moved. Instead, he had drawn his dagger, a wide, thin blade with a serrated edge that looed well cared for and quite deadly.

If the traveler would let him use it.

Instead, the traveler reached forward, using his reach to his advantage to grab his opponent's elbow and squeeze a nerve cluster, even as he used his momentum to force that arm down.

The knife landed in the dirt, and the traveler's other arm came forward, delivering two precise punches to the bandit's face, dropping him to the ground.

The entire incident had taken less than a handful of heartbeats.

The traveler strode purposefully toward the leader's horse, where his possessions had been stored, calmly beginning to load them back into his pack before turning to face the leader who was now pale and wide-eyed.

He hadn't moved from where the traveler had left him, paralyzed and wide-eyed by events.

 _'So, I was right then_ ,' the traveler mused, _'Likely drafted deserters fleeing the incursions on the boarder, down on their luck, but want nothing to do with real combat. Leader especially, given his reaction. Good thing I didn't kill anyone.'_

Striding forward into the leader's personal space, the traveler held out his hand expectantly, eyes and body language once again open and friendly. Wordlessly, the leader reached into his pocket, revealing the traveler's wallet, and the golden bills he had tried to keep for himself.

The leader reached forward, depositing the wallet into his would-be victim's open palm, before letting out an audible whimper as he spied the unmistakable hint of a tattoo on the underside of the traveler's wrist, almost covered by his fingerless gloves.

The Mark of the Lotus.

A delicate pale pink blossom sat still on water.

A deceptively frail symbol, whose beauty belied the strength of the warriors that bore it. It was the mark of one of the deadliest orders on the planet, elite warrior monks as known for their haikus as they were for their ability to rip the still-beating hearts from their opponents' chests. It was said that even the Thunder Maidens respected their prowess, though they fought without weapons.

The leader let out an almost inaudible whimper. They had tried to rob a monk of the Lotus Order, and they still breathed. Clearly fate was a mistress as vindictive as she was kind.

"Another piece of wisdom the old man gave me, since you have been so polite..." the traveler said.

"O-oh? And what's that, friend?" the leader was proud that his voice did not crack.

"Looks can be deceiving..." the traveler said, conversationally.

With a final smile, and a wave, the traveler adjusted his pack, turned about, and was on his way as though nothing had happened...

Behind him, the bandit leader and ex-military infantry man fell to his knees and wept in relief, that he was alive and not sitting in a pile of his own filth.

 **XXX**

The traveler smiled as he finally reached his destination, The Dancing Pancake, a charming bed and breakfast nook that had a cottagey appeal despite the fact that it was smack bang in the middle of one of the busiest streets in a rather large town.

The traveler had barely a moment to enter, letting his pack slide to the floor, and brace himself before he was faced with yet another assault that day.

This one was a much more overwhelming offensive, stronger, too.

"REEENNNN~!"

The traveler let out a whoosh of air as his breath was knocked from his lungs, and he was promptly picked up and spun about as though he weighed nothing at all. Of course, his assailant was used to much heavier objects, given the hammer that she wielded.

"Hello, Nora." the monk replied, tone warm as he favored her with a bright smile. It had been too long since they had seen each other.

His assailant stepped back, revealing the smiling face of one of his closest companions, Nora of the Valkyrie Clan, one of the most feared of the Thunder Maidens. Which was saying something considering they boasted such as Sif, or the Branwen women within their ranks.

Truly a frightening Sisterhood of Battle.

The redheaded missile looked up at her friend, smiling brightly as she bounced on the balls of her feet, hardly able to contain her nearly boundless energy. Blowing a lock of her red hair away from her eyes, the Maiden did her best to make her bright green eyes as wide as possible.

"Will you make me pancakes, Ren? Your uncle said you were the only one with the family recipe, and that he didn't trust himself to try and make the pancakes on memory alone. The place is called The Dancing Pancake! How can there be no pancakes?! Save me from this misery!"

The young woman finished her declaration by throwing herself to the floor, clutching at her friend's legs like a clingy toddler, and dramatically weeping like same.

Ren smiled, there was only one response. "Of course, Nora."

The deadly Valkyrie smiled brightly, tears gone as though they never were, and bounced back up to her feet in one smooth motion.

"Great!" she chirped. "It's been entirely too long since we've had a Pancake Night! I'll need to go to the back gardens to get Fearless Leader and Pyrrha. With any luck they'll be in the stables finally breaking those silly vows of chastity their orders insist upon and I can finally have the niece or nephew to spoil and train that I have always wanted!"

Ren's expression was stern, though his tone was light, "Their vows are made to the gods of their faith, Nora, the most important parts of their order, and where they get many of their abilities. I hardly think the Huntress Artemis, or The Golden Saint Jeanne of the Covenant are silly."

Nora did her best to look chastised, gaze lingering on the floor. "You're right, Ren. I'm sorry, they aren't silly..."

Ren smiled, "I'm glad you can admit when you're wrong, Nora."

"Of course, Renny! They aren't silly at all...they're _worse_!"

Ren sighed. He knew he was going to regre this, but..."Worse?"

Nora nodded sagely. "Worse." Her face scrunched up in disgust, as though she had found a diner that did not know the joys of breakfast foods, "They're prudes!"

Ren sighed, even as he glanced around furtively, as though expecting some sort of divine retribution that very moment. "Well if you want to get them out here faster, tell Jaune he won the bet. The extra gold lien should get him moving."

Nora smiled brightly, "Great! He can use it when we convince him to take Pyrrha on a date tomorrow! We still have a few days before we have to move again, and there's a festival of some sort in the bazaar tomorrow! Maybe I'll finally get my auntie status then!"

"They take their chastity vows quite seriously, you know." Ren replied, even as his form seemed to melt on the spot, like smoke in a strong breeze. His form shifted and shrank, the haze clearing to reveal a short man of wiry muscle, and features that marked him as hailing from Anima, aside from the pink streak in his otherwise dark hair.

"That didn't stop me!" Nora declared, voice going from chirpy to low and sultry on a lien, "Didn't stop you either...!"

And with that declaration, the giggling warrior was off to collect their friends, leaving behind an exasperated, flustered, and equally deadly monk.

 **XXX**

Military efficiency had nothing on warrior monk efficiency. In the twenty minutes it had taken for Nora to find the other half of their team (who were not violating their vows of chastity, much to her ire), Ren had unpacked, washed his hands, and started on the second batch of his family's specialty pancakes.

Once he had five healthy stacks prepared, one for himself, Jaune, and Pyrrha, the monk loaded the fruits of his labor onto a tray and carried them out to the table his friends had claimed.

"Ren, buddy, I hear you bring good news!" Jaune declared boisterously, Pyrrha and Nora giggling as Ren placed their pancakes in front of them.

The monk rolled his eyes, even as he reached into his wallet to hand Jaune five crisp golden lien notes. "You were right. You have an extremely robable face. It just screams 'mug me please. I am an innocent cinnamon roll.'."

Jaune laughed, pocketing his winnings. "Hey, you can't argue with seven older sisters, and mine made sure to tell me that just about every day since puberty. Though, to be fair, I think they meant it as a compliment, since they would always muss my hair too..."

Pyrrha giggled again, digging into her pancakes with gusto. "I've truly missed your culinary talents, Ren! None of the other Amazons have quite mastered the finer points of cooking with anything that isn't a camp fire. And the less said about baking, the better. Pretty sure Weiss nearly brought back one of the bandits she killed with her attempt at making brownies."

Jaune shuddered in sympathy. "I have good news then! Harvest went well, and we had more than enough cocoa beans for me to make Grammy Arc's famous Triple Chocolate Brownies!"

Pyrrha's fork froze part way to her mouth, before falling onto her plate with a noisy clatter. She turned to stare at him wide-eyed. "Really, Jaune? Is that true?" she whispered. "Please don't play with my emotions..."

Jaune gave her a solemn nod. "Arc's honor."

The smiles that his team sent him could have banished the dark on a moonless night.

"Oh, however will we burn off all these extra calories?!" Nora declared loudly, as though she were suffering the harshest of tortures. "Pyrrha, the boys are trying to make us fat! Clearly they must be punished!"

Nora gave her a salacious wink that caused the tips of Pyrrha's ears to match her hair, however, she was a blooded warrior and champion. She would not run from a challenge. So mustering her courage, the young woman said the first thing that came to mind: "S-spanking?"

Now it was the boys' turn to sputter and redden. No amount of training and battle-hardened mentality would save them from the embarrassment that was Nora on a mission to get her best friends to Make Her an Auntie Already Dammit!

The Thunder Maiden cackled madly, like she had just discovered a new explosive, banging her wooden cup loudly on the table she declared: "Yes! I like it! First, the spanking!"

She gave a very pointed look toward their resident warrior monk. "And then, the oral sex!"

The rest of the table's occupants valiantly resisted the urge to palm their faces in exasperation.

They were not successful.

END


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: Recently, I received an unsigned review from someone who pointed out, not unfairly, a huge flaw in my writing. It was all too similar. Not enough original stuff in my little collection. Well, after careful consideration, dear anonymous reader, I have decided that you have a point. So, I gift this chapter especially to you…**

Diversity

He had never wanted anything more.

Private islands? A butler? _Owning X-Ray and Vav_? These were but fantasy whims, discarded as laughably insignificant. Nothing else mattered when their eyes met in that crowded shop.

How does one describe the sun? Heat and light, nurturing, the reason for living. How does one describe the wind? A fierce gale, a force of nature, a gentle caress.

She was all of these things, and more.

When their eyes met, he could feel his pulse quicken, heat rising to his cheeks as she stared at him, sultry smirk tugging at her lips. Even in the low lighting of the shop, her skin seemed to glow, dark hair framing her exotic face in rivulets of darkest night.

He was bewitched. He was shaken. He was desperate.

How would he approach her?

What would he say?

All of his manners seemed to fail him. All the poetry and bearing his parents and sisters had trained him in left in that moment, when he needed it most.

It likely wouldn't have mattered, his tongue felt too heavy, his mouth too dry to form proper words, even if his brain wasn't failing him.

He considered music, but he had no instrument. His voice wasn't cooperating either…

In the end, fate intervened.

As he was slowly making his way over to her, trying to think of something, anything to say, he was roughly elbowed by a young man a few years older than him, who sped past carrying the latest issue of _X-Ray and Vav_ , blonde tail waving about as the Faunus rushed to the check out.

He could barely spare time to even sneer, since he looked up in abject horror when he felt the distinctive weight of crashing into someone else.

The only thing he could think, as she stared up at him from the floor, smirk still in place is, "Forgive me!"

She said nothing as he helped her up from the floor, standing her upright again.

With his arm around her like this, his befuddlement left him. His tongue unknotted, and words came pouring forth from his lips.

Seemingly all the words, every one of them language contained. Plus a few he made up on the spot, because language could not do her justice, leaving him to invent new ones. (That is what he would say if asked, assuming he wasn't really having a stroke).

It must have worked, because he felt her settling against his side like she belonged there, made only for him. He relaxed, talking about anything and nothing as he finally made his way to the front of the store to complete his purchase.

Once they made it back to his place, he pulled out all the stops:

The finest food he could provide.

Drinks.

Dancing.

He had even serenaded her with strings and song.

His sisters had assured him that he was "quite good" after all.

His soul nearly shattered when he had to part from her.

Granted, it was only for twenty minutes.

And he was only in his room "setting the mood", but the heart cannot help itself.

It wants what it wants.

He had candles lit.

Music was softly playing, (Perry White, a classic, his mother had assured him)

He had even made certain there were rose petals and lien chips scattered on the bed. Women liked that sort of thing, right?

He wasn't sure, and his sisters were not around to ask.

Regardless, with the mood set, fine food filling his stomach, along with two glasses of wine, he was feeling the courage only alcohol could provide.

He was ready.

He led her to his bedroom, leading her to take a seat on his bed.

She was somehow even more beautiful surrounded by flowers and money.

Of course, beauty like hers could enhance the lowliest of settings.

He smiled as seductively at her as he could manage (Though his sisters would tell him that he looked like a snake having a bowel movement, his expression was so oily and smarmy).

The look in her eyes, complete with that same playful smirk left no doubt that she knew what happened next. She wanted it, and so did he.

Slowly he undressed, tie and jacket falling to the floor first. Then the rest, until he was nearly completely bare save for his unmentionables.

This was it. This was the moment.

He cleared his throat nervously, trying to remember his father's words of wisdom when it came to seduction. All he could remember was his father assuring him that he was special. Unique. There was no one else like him in the entire world.

And that this moment, this sacred rite of passage was doubly important, because of that.

"Any woman will be lucky to have you, son. Truly, you will gift her something amazing when you lay with her. It is a special thing, deserving of the utmost reverence, and worship."

It deserved a special name.

And so, as she lay back against the pillows, his weight comfortably surrounding her, and her smoldering eyes, and sexy smirk nearly swallowing him whole, he leered at her, finally saying the words he had wanted to say since he had first locked eyes with her in that shop:

"Are you ready to receive my Schneed?"

 **XXX**

Elsewhere, seated on a throne, gazing imperiously at a non-descript minion, Sienna Khan fought the urge to yawn as the latest reports of their financial ventures were read out to her. That changed when one of their newest schemes was brought to her attention, because despite its newness, this one had proven to be extremely profitable.

"Your Excellency, our sales figures indicate that the Schnee whelp has bought another ten pillows. At this rate, he's responsible for almost half of our sales figures. That must be putting a dent in even his significant resources considering they have only been on the market six months."

Sienna smiled. Using her looks to make legal money without the Faunus resorting to terrorism? Making a statement and depriving money from the Schnee? Elegant and beautiful.

"Remind me to send Kali a thankyou basket of our finest Mistrali teas. Her suggestion about using my image for body pillows to cash in on teenage male libido was a stroke of genius..."

END


	31. Chapter 31

**Arkos Week Day 4-On the Road: Foodie Culture**

Jaune and Pyrrha let out a tired sigh as they both collapsed into their respective chairs. They had been walking through the town for hours now and had finally seen most of the sights.

"Really, who would have thought that a town named Bangela would have so many dance clubs, and a nature preserve?" Jaune wonder aloud, passing Pyrrha her water from his traveling pack.

"Do you think they were being ironic? So far the place hasn't been very boring, and it's been great cardio." Pyrrha replied, sipping her water slowly.

"Maybe? Wouldn't surprise me considering some of the towns we've been to since we started this cross-kingdom trip. That Shino Village with the waterfalls was nice."

"Oh, you mean the excuse for us to wear our new swim wear?"

"Hey, there was nature stuff there, too!"

"Nature stuff? Really? Name one thing. I'll wait."

"Uh, BIRDS!" Pyrrha burst into giggles, nearly choking on her water, "Thank you for proving my point!"

Jaune shot her an unrepentant grin as he removed their map from his bag and spread it out between their laps. "Let's see, if we continue on our current route, taking the next bullhead, and having a layover in Larcaster, our next stop on the JNPR Vale Summer Tour is…"

"There," Pyrrha indicated, finger resting on a dot marked 'Sekirei, "That's the town famous for the Wagtail bird nature preserve. Didn't Ren want to see those next?"

"Yeah, if we can ever manage to drag Nora away from the sloth habitat this place has…"

Pyrrha giggled, "Don't worry. She'll be hungry soon enough, and this town has a 'Crackn Gunbarrel' so she can mark off another location on her quest to eat at every location in the chain."

"Those poor, poor, waiters. They just don't realize that she takes the idea of all you can eat pancakes as a personal challenge…"

"I think the waiter was relieved when that pack of Beowolves showed up, and she stopped eating."

"True. I've never seen someone look happy to see a Grimm before."

"Well, we only have time for five more stops before we have to start the trip back. We can try that GDOW place at some point, get some variety." Pyrrha replied, scanning the map for points of interest.

"Waffles? You want to visit a place called the Global Domain of Waffles after eating your weight in pancakes?"

"It'll give us an excuse for more training. I need to start you on the next level of my yoga program anyway. You will be a pilattes prince by the time I'm done with you!"

"Pilattes? You're a monster!" Jaune replied jokingly, making a list of places they could potentially visit.

"Don't be such a baby. They're great for your core! Abs require work, Jaune."

"Yes, Dear," Jaune relented to his girlfriend.

Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of Pyrrha's scroll, signifying a text message. "It's from Ren", she clarified after a moment of reading, "He's dragged Nora away from the sloths now that she's hungry. They'll meet us at Crackn Gunbarrel in twenty minutes."

"You called it!"

"Indeed. As my reward, I demand a massage this evening once we get settled in the hotel."

"Heh. I'd have done that anyway."

"True. Speaking of things you're good at, any luck getting your grandmother's chocolate cake recipe?"

"Sadly no, but I have something just as good."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

"Remember Ansel, that town that is famous for being destroyed and rebuilt over a dozen times? Ansel? The Ghireshey Chocolate company just opened a factory there, and is offering tours. Apparently the SDC recently bought them in an effort to improve their image."

Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's hand in her own, practically dragging him from his chair, and in the direction of JNPR's chosen meeting place. "If we eat quickly enough, we can be on the road in the next two hours, and in Ansel in two days. We need to get there before a King Barengel destroys the place again. A factory tour means free samples. Free. Samples. Jaune."

The blonde relented, submitting to being dragged along by his partner. She was on the hunt. Chocolate was involved and she would not be denied.

END


	32. Chapter 32

AN: This is a special chapter inspired by and dedicated to my buddies and fellow writers on Discord. It's a little piece poking fun at some very popular tropes in the fandom that authors and fans alike seem very fond of. I hope you enjoy!

I decided to take a stab at it myself. So, without further ado, I present…

 **Tropes: Ship Swapping**

They had been making-out for a while. Hands had begun to wander further than they ever had before. The couple giggled at each other as they found undiscovered tickle spots, and slowly began to undress.

The feeling of butterflies churning in their stomachs was replaced with excitement. Their nervousness began to dissipate as they progressed. This shared moment was shaping up to be a culmination of all their shared experiences.

Their friendship. Their grief. The battles they had been through. The friends they had lost. All the sacrifices they had made to save the world. Still they were together, side by side, though it all.

Of course a relationship would blossom under those circumstances.

Clothes were just starting to come off, revealing unexplored territory that both were eager to chart when…

A bright flash of light seemed to fill the room.

Jaune blinked slowly, rising from the bed, and rubbing furiously at his eyes to clear away the spots. Even if he wasn't blind anymore, he must be hallucinating.

How else could he explain Blake being in his bed?

"Um, Blake? W-where did Ruby go?"

The cat Faunus gave him a sultry smirk, as she began to slink across the large mattress toward him. Her tone was practically a purr as she declared "Plan Retcon."

"B-but all that time and relationship building! The moments we shared! Our time together! You just expect me to forget all that and move on for the sake of _plot_?!"

"Of course, Jaune," she declared, beginning to loosen the buttons of her top. "And if it helps, I have two words for you to help ease your way into this transition…"

He gently batted away her questing hands as they sought to unbuckle his belt. "And those are?"

"Catgirl Stereotypes."

"Well since the only Faunus I have actually _met_ are you and Sun, that doesn't really help me…"

"Okay then." Blake gave a negligent shrug, which did the work of removing her unbuttoned top from her shoulders, leaving just her bra. "Well, regardless, I can assure you that all the stereotypes are true. And I am wiling to wear anything from glasses to maid outfits."

Jaune bent down, scooped up his hoodie from the floor, and calmly draped it around Blake's shoulders, restoring her modesty, despite her best efforts to discard it. "You know, there was much more to our relationship than just sex. Heck, beyond kissing, we didn't even have much of a seriously physical relationship yet!"

"Even better! That means I can show you all the things she never did…"

Jaune's deadpan stare and dry tone could have dehydrated a rainforest. "That implies an unwillingness for sex on her part. Need I remind you that this freaking retcon happened while we were in the middle of undressing?! And besides, there is more to a relationship than just sex…"

Blake smirked, slowly removing Jaune's hoodie from around her shoulders. "Oh really?" She gave him a wink, as she stopped stripping long enough to reach behind herself, and give herself a firm _smack_ , the sound echoing loudly in the room.

"Tell that to the Bellabooty…"

There were many things about what just happened that Jaune was very confused by and uncertain of. However, the one thing that stood out the most at this moment was obvious, even in this insane situation. "You've named your ass?"

"Of course. It's my best feature."

"You know, holding such a high opinion of your admittedly nice physical features, and emphasizing sex in a relationship as the most important form of intimacy is usually an indicator of serious emotional problems, and an unwillingness to form a lasting emotional connection... "

Blake halted his logical argument with a finger pressed to his lips. " _Sshhh_! It's time for this kitty to get the D'Arc!"

"Is that supposed to be a euphemism for my bits? Because it's pretty bad. Like, I'm pretty sure I just went into reverse puberty bad. You've just killed the mood, lit it on fire, and scattered its ashes."

Blake just gave him another sexy smirk. "That's okay. The Bellabooty will help bring you back _up_ to the task…"

Jaune closed his eyes and began to rub the bridge of his nose to stop the headache he could feel coming on. "Can you _please_ stop referring to your ass in the third person like that? It's creepy. And again, you are having the opposite reaction to what you want."

He sighed. "This isn't going very well at all."

"Nonsense! All the catgirl stereotypes are true!" Blake declared firmly.

"Well since I haven't been this unwilling and unable to perform since before puberty, I beg to differ. It hasn't even been five minutes and already this retconed relationship has collapsed under its foundation of lies and betrayal."

 **XXX**

 **Secrets**

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha arrive back at the dorm to see Jaune watching a talent show competition to discover the next great boyband. Since he's preoccupied with the show, he has no idea they are there, until Ren clears his throat.

Jaune does _not_ shriek and fall over on his bed. That is his story and he will stick to it forever. "Uh..guys! Back so soon?"

Ren walks over to his bed, gently setting Storm Flower onto his mattress, before retrieving a ration bar from his stash. "Yes. Port let class out early so he could go deal with some sort of mouse Grimm that has been stealing his cheese...or something."

Nora greeted her leader with her usual limitless energy, taking his empty bowl of soup, and putting it in the kitchen sink to wash later. "You seem to be on the mend, Fearless Leader! What'cha watchin'?"

Jaune furiously flips the channel to something else to escape the perceived awkwardness of the situation. "N-nothing! Nothing at all!"

This backfired on him when the changed channel revealed a romantic comedy movie with a couple currently walking along the beach holding hands.

Pyrrha of course did her best to help her partner get his bearings. Being inspired by the movie helped a bit too.

"Was that Synced Up Streets of Talent? My manager wanted me to do a guest judge appearance on that show a few months ago. I'm afraid I don't know much about footwork outside of combat, so I declined the offer. Is it any good?"

"U-um. I'm not sure! I was just flipping through the channels and saw it!"

"Jauney we were standing at the door a full minute before you noticed us. You were making notes and mumbling to yourself. Why are you being evasive?"

Ren nodded firmly. "Indeed. It's most unlike you."

"Yes. What's wrong, Jaune? Why all the secrecy?" Pyrrha's tone radiated concern.

Jaune gave a dramatic sigh accompanied by a rather loud gulp. "Guys. I have a secret, okay? It's dark, and it could be dangerous."

" _Okaaaay...?"_ the rest of his team replied in perfect sync.

Jaune gave a dramatic pause before deciding to drop the bombshell. "I've cracked the code."

"What code?" Ren asked.

"The Dancevinci Code. The formula that the entertainment industry uses to create successful boybands. I know what it is."

"How is this relevant?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, theoretically, I can potentially use this with some minor tweaking to make any group of people successful as a band."

Nora cackled as she began to bounce on her bed. "Prove it."

Jaune tapped his chin in thought before his mind lit upon an idea that would prove itself fantastic. "Well I still have Cardin's number. And after saving his life, he owes me a favor..."

 _And thus, began the tale of CRDL's rise to stardom and fame, not as the Huntsmen they intended, but as one of the most successful boybands of all time…_

They are... **Luv4Men!**

CRDL is terribly confused by the lack of actual women in their fanbase.

Their fans and critics alike assure them that the name is perfect for their image.

As they walked hand in hand, leaving another successful show, Pyrrha turns to her partner. "See Jaune? Imagine if you had kept this secret, bottled up for no reason instead of just sharing this with us, and talking about it like rational, reasonable friends. None of this would have been possible."

"You're right. In hindsight, it was pretty dumb, huh? Wasn't even that dangerous or anything. Guess I was just being weirdly dramatic and angsty for no reason, huh? Sorry, partner."

Pyrrha chooses that moment to change the topic, giving her partner a look of such undisguised lust that he is rooted to the spot. "You know, I think I have a great way to help make sure you don't have any more angsty, secretive mood swings..."

"Oh really? I'm open to suggestions..." His voice had dropped a few octaves, tone husky.

"Excellent! Let me go get the chocolate sauce, I'll meet you in our hotel room! I expect your clothes to be scattered on the floor when I arrive!"

Jaune gives her a salute, even as his hands are busily removing his hoodie. "Yes ma'am!"

END

 **Post Fic AN:** If you are a fan of my Discord inspired stories or are just curious about the sort of shenanigans we get up to, my fellow writer, the immensely talented Random O' Panda has published a new story titled RWNYJNPR and a Certain Discord Server.

If you like my work at all, I'm certain you'll enjoy his.


	33. Chapter 33

**Arkos Week Day Four-Scars: Sharing**

Jaune and Pyrrha were discovering a fundamental truth about their new relationship: Habits that they took for granted and saw as completely normal suddenly became questionable when one shares a living space with their significant other.

Such was the case during the first really warm Spring night in the JNPR dorm, when the couple started to get ready for bed, putting away their usual warmer sleep wear in favor of much lighter options.

"Pyrrha? What's that?" Jaune queried, pointing to a mark he'd never seen before, right below her right shoulder.

Pyrrha brought her hand up to touch the scar, causing the strap of her night gown to begin to fall, exposing the full scar, a fine cut a few inches long. Luckily, she caught the strap before she could have a major wardrobe malfunction.

This didn't do much to help poor Jaune, who despite being desensitized to the sight of things like bra straps seven puberty aged sisters ago, was completely unprepared for the revelation that his girlfriend did not wear even wraps to bed.

He could feel the blush heating his face.

"Oh this? It's a bit embarrassing, but I got this scar in a training accident."

Now it was her turn to blush as she turned to her partner. both from the origin of her scar, and the fact that the heat had forced Jaune to ditch the usual onesie for workout shorts and a tight fitting t-shirt.

"How'd you get the scar? Not that you have to tell me, but I am curious. You don't have scars anywhere else, I've seen…not that I'm looking…I-gah, I'll stop talking now…"

Pyrrha giggled, embarrassment forgotten as she watched her boyfriend be awkwardly adorable. "It's okay, Jaune. I don't mind."

"Really?"

"Of course. It's a bit of a funny story,, though it wasn't at the time! My weapons instructor had finally let me use a real spear for training instead of a weighted wooden one. I was practicing my strikes with it against one of the wooden training dummies, when I misjudged a strike and lost my footing. I fell forward, and the spear ended up lodged in the wooden target."

Jaune couldn't help but snicker at the mental image. "Sorry, sorry! I was picturing a tiny, adorable kiddo version of you stabbing bad guys with a spear twice your size. It's great."

Pyrrha mock glared, "May I finish my humiliating tale or not?"

"Please, continue!"

"Well, once I realized the spear was stuck, I did my best to pull it free, with no success. I think my soul responded to my desperation to get the weapon back because my semblance chose that moment to manifest for the first time."

"Oh boy. I bet that ended well…"

"Better than I hoped. With my strength, and my semblance, the spear came free, but it flew up into the air. I did my best to roll out of the way, but I did not realize at the time that my semblance was still active. I was pulling the spear towards myself."

"Ouch," Jaune winced in sympathy.

"Exactly. I barely managed to roll out of the way in time to avoid impalement, and got this reminder that I have to be very careful with my abilities. It's one of the main reasons I use my semblance so sparingly during fights."

"Wow, that makes my scar story way less interesting," the blonde stated, trying to bring some levity back into the conversation.

"I didn't know you had a scar, Jaune. May I see it?"

"Well, you did show me yours, it's only fair."

The blonde lifted up his shirt, revealing his developing muscles to his partner's searching gaze. They were coming along very nicely, she thought.

When his shirt was nearly completely off, Jaune turned, revealing his back to Pyrrha, and exposing a jagged scar nearly four inches long near the lower part of his spine.

"What happened here?"

"Uh, I was trying to help my dad build a tree house, but I saw a spider, and freaked out. Lost my balance and fell off the steps and got cut pretty good by one of the branches on the way down."

Pyrrha giggled despite her best efforts. "Sorry, I'm just picturing a tiny version of you flailing around like a windmill as you try to keep your balance. It's cute."

"See?! I told you!"

"You did. You know, my mother taught me an ancient Mistralian technique for helping to heal scars. Would you like to try it?"

"Uh, sure, why not?"

Summoning her courage, Pyrrha leaned in before Jaune had a chance to put his shirt back down, and placed a gentle kiss right on the center of the scar, blushing nearly as red as her hair.

When she looked up into her partner's wide-eyed stare, she could see that he was as red as she was.

"Y-you know, we have that technique in Vale, too." he finally said.

Wordlessly, Pyrrha pulled away the strap of her nightgown, just enough to expose the top of her scar. Face still flushed, Jaune leaned in, placing a light peck against the damaged skin.

When he pulled away, both of them flushed with embarrassment and hormones, the duo smiled softly to each other, before saying good night, and finally turning in for a long night of staring away from each other and trying to fall asleep.

It would be a long wait.

But for once the tingling feeling of the taut scar tissue, mixed with the remembered softness of their partners' lips, leaving a pleasant warmth, and a much happier, newer memory to associate with the old injury.

END

 **AN:** Sorry for the wait, folks! Been so busy writing the next few chapters of Product Placement, uploading the next prompt just slipped my mind. Apologies. Look forward to the next chapter of Product Placement tomorrow.


	34. Chapter 34

**Arkos Week Day 5-Alternate Universe: Lines  
**

"Stupid Biology final!" Jaune muttered as he finally made the escape from his last class of the week. He wasn't entirely certain what the reproductive system of frogs had to do with majoring in physical therapy, but he was glad it was finally over!

 _'Now to relax and recharge with the newest issue of X-Ray and Vav, have some tea, and decompress for a couple hours before I have to finish packing!'  
_

With that thought to rejuvenate him, the blonde took off with some pep in his step to his refuge: Tukson and Noble.

When he arrived, he made certain to wave to the staff as he traveled the familiar path to the comic book section, and he finally laid eyes on his prey. Unfortunately, he was so caught up in the hunt, that his environmental awareness was nonexistent,

"I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!"

Jaune was brought out of his trance by a hand on his shoulder as he reached for his looked over at the hand, and kept looking up into a pair of the greenest eyes he had ever seen.

Now he was entranced for an entirely different reason.

"Um, uh, no problem. It was my fault anyway," Jaune replied with a nervous chuckle as he stared at the prettiest girl he had ever laid eyes on. A statuesque redhead that was a clear athlete, given her muscle definition.

"Are you a fan of X-Ray and Vav, too?"

"What?"

"The comic. The one you picked up. It's the newest issue, yes?"

"Um, yeah. It is." Jaune replied, hardly daring to believe this was real. A beautiful girl? And she liked comic books? What's next, a unicorn?

"I'm Pyrrha, by the way. Pyrrha Nikos." the redhead replied with a bright smile and an outstretched hand.

"Ah. I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue." the blonde replied, taking note of her surprisingly soft hand when they shook.

"Are you going to buy that?"

"Yeah, but…I think this is the last one."

"Perhaps we could…share it?"

Jaune could hardly believe this was real. A beautiful girl that liked comics was talking to him, and wanted to share an issue of X-Ray and Vav like a date?

' _I'm dead. I have to be! The stress of the final exam killed me, and I am hallucinating or something…'  
_

The thought was compounded further when the redhead even offered to buy them both coffee. However, stress induced mirage or not, Jaune still had his pride as a well raised gentleman.

So, while Pyrrha brought refreshments with Jaune's Astralbucks card, he paid for the comic, and picked out a quiet booth for them to read in peace.

That peace soon turned to stifled laughter, and shared conversations about the misery of the finals for their classes. And talk of their majors, Jaune wanted to be a physical therapist. Pyrrha wanted to be a Veterinarian, which ended up leading to…

"I can't believe X-Ray would use a line like that! Or that it actually worked!"

Pyrrha stifled a giggle into her hand as she finished off her third chocolate filled croissant. Once her dark lust for all things chocolate was sated, she was quick to reply.

"That's nothing. I once had some football player ask me if I had a band-aid, because he scraped his knee falling for me."

Jaune nearly snorted his chai latte into his nose, he laughed so hard. "Oh man, that's almost as bad as the time I watched one of my classmates in biology strike out with this green haired girl last week. He asked her if she knew that the human body is 65% water, because she was making him _thirsty._ "

Pyrrha laughed so hard, she was nearly as flushed as her hair, before she finally said, "You know, my room mate Nora taught me a line that she used on her boyfriend, that is guaranteed to work 100% of the time."

"Really? What is it?"

Jaune was confused when Pyrrha got up from her seat, going back up to the bar, and returning with a piece of fruit. Once she was seated again, Jaune could see that it was small and green. A lime.

"Okay, I'm even more confused. How's this work?"

In response, Pyrrha just gave him a smile before digging into her purse for a moment, and bringing out a pen, waving it in front of her like she was about to perform a great magic trick.

With another smile, and a flourish, she quickly wrote something onto the fruit, blushing a bit, before turning the lime around, so Jaune could see it.

There were numbers on it. Seven digits.

Pyrrha handed the fruit to him with a smile, "Here, have a pick-up lime."

END


	35. Chapter 35

**Arkos Week Day 6-Movie Night: Vanished  
**

Jaune placed the bowl of popcorn on the table as Pyrrha retrieved the pillows from their beds, and her favorite quilt. She also made sure to grab a couple of pieces of dark chocolate from her stash in the team's mini fridge.

If they were splurging tonight, then her unquenchable lust for chocolate, and her partner if she played her cards right, would be sated!

As Jaune helped her set up the pillow and blanket foundation of their shared blanket burrito fortress, he grabbed their entertainment for the evening, and set it in the player.

They had learned from the last time they had "Movie Date Night" not to listen to Nora's suggestion of scary movies being the perfect choice for a couple. It was terrible, terrible advice.

Pyrrha was absolutely _terrified_ of ghosts.

And the duo discovered that night that Pyrrha's semblance had a tendency to…act up during moments of extreme emotion, despite her control.

Professor Goodwitch was very surprised when the request for new bed frames had been made the next day, JNPR's being warped beyond all repair.

The cuddling was nice, though. Even if Jaune's ribs still ached when it rained.

So instead, they had opted for something on the other end of the spectrum: Laird Newsan's "Vanished" trilogy. Lots of action and thrills. Most importantly, no ghosts. Besides, neither of them had gotten a chance to see the last one. Between school, work, missions, and an impromptu business meeting scheduled by Pyrrha's father, JNPR's schedule was packed when it was out in theaters.

Tonight, that would be rectified!

As the couple snuggled together in their fluffy burrito of warmth and +10 Cuddle Enhancement, Jaune used his scroll to dim the lights, and Pyrrha used her semblance to carefully levitate the bowls of snacks into their laps to share.

Together they settled into a quiet evening of cuddles, watching bad guys get destroyed for making the stupid decision to hurt Laird Newsan's family, and to quote iconic lines together.

Especially the speech about having a very specific set of skills…

END


	36. Chapter 36

**Arkos Week Day 7-Partners: Medicine  
**

Since the beginning of their time at Beacon, Jaune and Pyrrha had been partners. This meant trusting each other with everything from watching their backs in a fight to all of their hopes and dreams.

And especially their fears.

It was for this last particular reason that Jaune Arc found himself sitting in a very cold doctor's office on a Friday afternoon. He was sitting on one of those cushioned examination tables. In one had he was watching an hour long video compilation of cute animals doing cute things.

His other hand was being held firmly in the clammy, death-like grip of his partner.

Why?

Because Jaune knew something that news outlets and tournament fighters around Remnant would give their first born for: Pyrrha's weakness. Well, one of several. This particular one, right after cold, and ghosts was something more tangible.

Pyrrha hated needles.

In fact, her mother Metis joked when Jaune had first met her that Pyrrha's semblance of polarity started manifesting as a toddler just so she wouldn't have to get her immunizations.

So that is why Jaune was burning through his data, and having the tiny bones in his hand crushed in Pyrrha's anxious grip. Luckily, a few shots of a tiny teacup pig inside a teacup made her smile enough to loosen her grip just as he heard an unsettling creak in his wrist.

Luckily, he had a lot of aura.

The door handle jiggled, and Jaune leaned over to delicately nibble on Pyrrha's earlobe, a weakness of another variety, to distract her from using her semblance to keep holding the door shut. It worked beautifully.

Doctor Fuchsia Celedon entered. A classically pretty woman with dark hair, fair skin, and an athletic build. For a civilian.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Nikos. I see all the regular check up tests came back as excellent as ever. Though the nurse did note that you've put on a few more pounds since the last time we saw you. A few too many cheat days, eh?" the woman asked with a grin.

"That'd be my fault, I'm afraid. I like to bake, and I have a hard time saying no when Pyrrha has chocolate cravings." Jaune said with a nervous laugh.

"My, my Mister Arc. A strapping young man that is caring and supportive enough to accompany his girlfriend to her regular checkups, _and_ you can bake? It really is a shame you don't have any unattached older brothers. Clearly your parents did something right."

"Thanks, I'll pass along your compliments to my parents the next time I call them."

"Be sure that you do. Now then Ms. Nikos, that just leaves one final thing to take care of…your two immunization shots."

Pyrrha's death grip on Jaune's hand returned two fold, and around the room, many of the small metal instruments began to shake ominously. Doctor Celedon was unmoved, used to treating Huntsmen and Huntresses with many strange and exotic semblances.

She was still rather annoyed that when she opened the drawer to retrieve a needle, many of them were already bent beyond any use.

"Mr. Arc, if you would?"

Giving the doctor a nod, Jaune reached into his backpack as Pyrrha stared down the doctor, unblinking, waiting for the first sign of a working needle.

All that concentration was thrown out the window when Jaune's hand blocked her view. And he was holding something special.

His home made Triple Chocolate Deluxe Brownies.

Pyrrha was mesmerized, watching the gentle sway of the bag in front of her with intensity of the thirst of a thousand of her fans. When Jaune opened the bag, presenting its contents to her, the rest of the world melted away. With that first bite, she entered her chocolate happy place.

As such, she was blissed out, and unaware of the goings on around her, so she had no idea that Jaune was pointing toward the doctor and whisper yelling "Take the shots!"

Two quick stabs, and one band-aid later, the job was finished.

Just in time, too, because Pyrrha had finished the last of the brownies, and was looking around for more.

"I appreciate your assistance in this matter, Mr. Arc. I only lost three needles this time instead of eight."

"This sort of thing happens a lot?"

"Unfortunately. Magnetism isn't the only thing damaging to metals…"

"Jaune, where did all the brownies go? Can you make more?"

Unfortunately, they had waited too long, Pyrrha was coming out of her chocolate induced euphoria.

"Well, we'll see you in three months, Doctor!" Jaune said over his shoulder, as he was quickly marching out of the room with Pyrrha in tow, making plans to already use the emergency stash of brownies he had made last night just for this occasion.

"Oh, and remind Mr. Lie that Ms. Valkyrie's appointment is next week, will you? I'll have the nurses stock up on syrup." Doctor Celedon called after them.

END


	37. Chapter 37

**Arkos Week Day 8-Bonus: Chill  
**

Jaune and Pyrrha cuddled on the couch, snugly wrapped in their favorite comfortable quilt, ready to marathon the next series of _Doctor When_ on Vidstream.

Jaune lightly kissed the top of Pyrrha's head as she leaned into him, before grabbing the remote, and starting their marathon. It was going to be a long one.

 **XXX**

Crouched outside the door to the JNPR dorm, Ren, Nora, and RWBY waited with bated breath. Yang was crouched by the door, a glass by her ear, as she struggled to amplify the sounds on the other side.

Ren was trying desperately to pretend he was somewhere else as he meditated away from the door.

Weiss was filing her nails.

Ruby was looking on in confusion as she demolished a box of cookies.

Blake was making use of genetics, bow removed, and ears twitching as she used her super Faunus senses to help her make out what was going on.

"Are you sure they said they were going to stay in and chill, Nora?" Yang asked.

"Definitely! Pyrrha suggested they binge the new season of a show, and Jaune said that he would be 'down to chill'. Ren and I made alternative sleeping arrangements for the evening shortly after."

"Wait! I think I hear something!" Blake insisted.

"What?" Ruby asked, "Are they playing a game in there or something?"

"Yeah. 'Hide the Spear'." Yang insisted with a wink.

"No…I hear…the _Doctor When_ theme?" Blake exclaimed incredulously.

"Role play? Well, Jaune does seem the type," Weiss insisted.

 **XXX**

Meanwhile, in their dorm, Jaune and Pyrrha watched the climax of the latest episode with bated breath. When it was over, Jaune got up to use the bathroom, and Pyrrha refilled their snacks.

"Jaune?"

"Yeah, Pyr?" the blonde responded as he reclaimed his spot on the couch.

"Where are Ren and Nora?"

"I'm not sure. I told them we were going to watch Vidstream and chill tonight, and all I got back was a suggestive wink, and a heart emoji."

"A shame. More popcorn for us!" Pyrrha cheered, as she resumed her favorite snuggle position.

END


	38. Chapter 38

**Bleiss** , **Beiss** , **Baby**!

"I am thou! Thou art I!"

"You're not me! You can't be, you're black!"

"Hey, I'm standing right here, you know!"

"No, not you Blake! Her! She's black!"

"Why are you black?" Ruby asked quietly, as she shamelessly ended a cookie's existence.

"OMG, Ruby! You can't just ask people why they're black!" Yang chided her sister.

"Oops, sorry! Want a cookie, Black Weiss? Cookies have healing powers. Maybe they'll get you your color back."

The young woman that had seemingly appeared in the middle of their dorm with a flash of light as Weiss left the bathroom gave a haughty sniff, fixing Ruby with an imperious glare.

"Silly girl! I have no desire for cookies not made by the official Schnee chef! They are ten times better than that common boxed cookie!" the girl stated, flipping her long, black ponytail out of the way.

"Yup, that's Weiss-cream." Yang declared, as she snapped her fingers in front of Ruby's face to get her to stop dreaming about gourmet cookies, "So what do we do?"

The mysterious young woman gave them another glare, smoothing out a wrinkle in her combat skirt, an identical match to Weiss' besides its black color, which made her already pale skin seem even more, "Fool! I'm not Weiss! My name is Bleiss!"

"So, Black Weiss?" Blake asked, "So you're just a palette swap for the real thing?"

Bleiss sputtered indignantly, "Simpleton! I am no such thing! I am my own person with thoughts, feelings, and a backstory! I am relevant!"

The young woman cleared her throat, cheeks lightly pink, "Now one of you must escort me to Jaune Arc's room immediately! Whatever transported me here used a lot of my aura and I require his special healing touch to restore it!"

"Jaune's special healing touch, eh?" Yang said with a waggle of her eyebrows, "Sounds more like you want to test his sword wielding skills!"

The Gothically dressed palette swap blushed, but did not deny the fact. "I have an itch only he can scratch, and I know for certain that his sword wielding abilities are quite…satisfactory."

Blake and Yang dissolved into giggles while Ruby looked on in confusion, innuendo lost on her.

Weiss stood gaping, pointing at her counterpart accusingly, "You wish to be intimate with…with that incompetent ragamuffin?!" the heiress practically screeched.

"I thought that was obvious!" Bleiss declared, "And what he lacks in some areas he more than makes up for in other areas! Much, much more…"

"Uh, not that I have a problem watching the ensuing chaos," Yang declared, "But I'm pretty sure that Pyrrha would impale you with Milo and hang you in the cafeteria as a warning to others if you just proposition him out of the blue like this."

Bleiss smirked, "Well if Pyrrha has not fully staked her claim yet, that will be fine. I'm not against sharing. My Dark Knight is really too much for one woman alone, anyway."

This time, Weiss was not alone in her gaping incredulity, all of RWBY was staring at the new arrival as though she were a duck that had suddenly developed speech.

"Share..Pyrrha…Jaune…I…" Weiss was barely coherent, such was her frothing rage at the audacity of her strange palette swapped clone.

"Indeed!" Bleiss declared, "I have even written a new song to express my love for my Dark Knight! I'm certain the fiery Amazon, Pyrrha will be just as captivated by my words!"

Ruby only had a moment to turn to her sister to ask, "What's an Amazon?" before Blake spoke up in challenge.

"Prove it." Their Faunus teammate declared, "Sing the song for us. If we like it, we'll take you to see Jaune."

"What?!" Weiss yelled, "You can't be serious, Blake?!"

"Hey, we hardly ever get the chance to hear you sing, Princess." Yang declared, "Let's see if she's truly as good as the original."

"Very well," Bleiss decided, "I suppose having a bit of feedback couldn't hurt. I shall perform my unforgettable art for you, and then you will take me to my Dark Knight!"

"Hmmph! Sing whatever you want, you'll never compare to the original!" Weiss declared as the girls stepped away from the girl to give her room.

Bleiss smirked, "Say whatever you wish you useless lesbian! Once I am reunited with my Dark Knight I'll be too busy screaming his name to hear your pathetic insults!"

Weiss seethed as the young woman prepared to give her performance.

The girls looked on, confused, as Bleiss turned her back to them. The confusion grew as Bleiss bent down, as though she was looking for something that she dropped. That confusion grew to horror as the copycat stuck her nearly non-existent butt in the air, and began to jiggle her posterior up and down as quickly as she could.

"Ahhh! Make it stop! Make it stop!" Ruby cried, desperately shielding her eyes with her hands.

"On it." Blake declared, using her semblance to create two shadow clones to help restrain her target.

However, just as the clones leaped into action, whether through some trick of Bleiss' semblance, or some other unholy magic, the clones stopped when they got close to Bleiss, instead beginning to mimic her movements as they became her impromptu background dancers.

It only became worse as Bleiss finally faced her audience and began to sing…

"Stop! Collaborate, and listen!" she punctuated her line with a lewd roll of her non-existant hips, "Bleiss is back with a brand-new edition!"

Team RWBY began screaming in earnest.

"Kill it! Kill it with fire!" Ruby declared as she retrieved a beaker of ground fire dust from her backpack. The others rushed to contribute, and four beakers of high quality ground fire dust impacted the strange, sex obsessed palette swap.

Bleiss barely had time to protest before she and Blake's shadow clones disappeared in a flash of light and heat, back to whatever twisted Hell had spawned her.

"D-did we get her?" Blake asked, panting as the adrenaline left her.

"I think so…" Yang declared cautiously, as she inspected the room for damage.

"What _was_ that?" Ruby asked as she retrieved the vacuum to help dispose of Bleiss' remains.

"I have no idea," Weiss declared, smoothing out a wrinkle in her combat skirt, "But we are ordering our hand soap in bulk from now on! That is the last time I will leave the bathroom without being able to wash my hands properly!"

END

 **AN:** I recently read a couple chapters of a Bleiss Anthology from a collection of authors that include the amazingly talented Aetheling (who published the anthology). I decided to throw my hat in the ring as an exercise of sorts, since I haven't done much work with OC's yet.


End file.
